In the ninth year of Minshi, in the 4347th year of the Central Calendar, and in the 1650th year of the Western Calendar.

The spring is chilly.

Hebei scholars Li Jixiu and Zhang Zhaoyong came to Nanjing just after the Lantern Festival, waiting to participate in the first examination in early February.

They were considered relatively late, and some scholars were afraid of missing the time and chose to celebrate the New Year in Nanjing.

The lantern festival will last for ten days, and Li and Zhang still have the opportunity to watch the lanterns...

Although many lanterns have been removed, the rest still excites them.

Zhang Zhaoyong sighed with tears: "When my brother was young, he watched the lanterns with his father and brother in Beijing, and he still remembered the magnificent atmosphere. Now the north is withered,

The prosperity is no longer there. At this time, I see the Lantern Festival again. Real things are different and everything goes on."

"Oh, don't talk about this again." Lee Jixiu also remembered the old days.

Li Jixiu's family is a big landlord, with more than 3,000 acres of land. Not to mention the crowds of slaves, at least they are surrounded by them, but now they are gone. The dozens of acres of land in their family were still assigned by the local government when they fled back to their hometowns, and they had to cultivate their own simple food.

Zhang Zhaoyong squeezed out a smile: "But Tianjin still recovers quickly. Inside and outside the city, the number of people in recent years has increased day by day, thanks to His Majesty's organization of immigration."

"Who said no?" Li Jixiu said, "Pingle Town where Brother Yu is located was only 1,000 at the beginning, and there were two or three thousand people last year. Some came from the mountains, and the rest were all immigrants from the south. My young brother also made a marriage last year, and the girl's house from the south. Although she was just an ordinary farmer, she had been to elementary school for three years. In the future, she would definitely be able to educate her children."

While talking, a group of young people came over their arms and were singing drunk.

Zhang Zhaoyong said: "Brother, look at the jade pendants on their waists. They are all students from Jinling University."

"These young people have a good time and a good future." Li Jixiu couldn't help but sigh.

The jade pendant on the waist of the Grand Secretary is similar to the role of the school emblem.

Moreover, it is not a serious and beautiful jade, but all the same colored medicinal jade, that is, stained glass. It was very expensive in the early Ming Dynasty, and the officials had court robes, but it was not very valuable in the middle of the Ming Dynasty. The officials secretly replaced it with real jade beyond the rules.

It’s even less valuable now, basically a by-product of making transparent glass.

Zhang Zhaoyong said: "This Jinling University is similar to the Imperial College in the Ming Dynasty. I heard that I usually have strict control over students. These students have been drunk and probably have classes after the New Year. They returned to school to play in advance. Alas, there are universities in all provinces in the south. When will I have one in Hebei?"

Li Jixiu smiled and said, "At least there must be a middle school, otherwise how will the universities in Hebei recruit students? I guess that because of this, Your Majesty reopened the imperial examinations and gave northern scholars a way to prevent southerners from occupying the court."

"Even so, Your Majesty is wise." Zhang Zhaoyong also laughed.

The next day, the two of them went to the bookstore together.

But I saw a group of college students who had not started classes and many scholars who were taking the exam were arguing fiercely in front of the bookshelf.

I just arrived at the new book, called "Oracle Bone Debate".

Perhaps it is too rare and afraid of poor sales and not much distribution, so this bookstore only purchased three books.

A scholar has been watching new books for a long time, and no matter how rare it is, it will open it, which will cause a sensation.

This book was written by the emperor himself, and the content was about three points: First, the origin of oracle bones was discovered by farmers in Henan, and local officials presented them to the emperor; Second, the gentlemen from the Cangjie Pavilion in the Hanlin Academy studied oracle bones day and night. If it caused controversy, all sectors of society should not criticize them all; Third, the formation of Chinese characters may not be a single person's merit, and Cangjie may have been a specific official position in ancient times.

The first ten pages are all rubbings of oracle bones, printed by craftsmen's carvings. Although not every selected oracle bone is fully identified, at least 60% of the text is recognized.

Next, the method of identifying oracle bone inscriptions summarized by Cangjie Pavilion, and then it is accompanied by specific oracle bone inscriptions as examples and the corresponding bell and tripod inscriptions.

Large and large seal script, clerical script and regular script. From ancient times to the present, the development context of a text is clearly placed in front of readers.

"Haha, look at the word "elephant". The oracle bone script is really an elephant, even the elephant trunk and elephant tail are clearly drawn."

"Have you seen an elephant?"

"Why haven't you seen it? I'm from Yunnan in my hometown! " "Elephants really have such a long nose?"

"The nose is very good. If you have seen an elephant with your own eyes, you will know it is exactly the same as this oracle bone inscription. After studying this Cangjie Pavilion, everything is clear. The two strokes on the top of the character "Elephant" are derived from the nose of the elephant. The character "Sun" in the middle is actually the head of the elephant. The long hook below is the elephant's body and last leg. The three strokes on the left are the first three legs of the elephant. The stroke on the right is,

It's the tail of an elephant."

"It's true, it's very clear. It turns out that the word "Elephant" comes from."

"Give me a quick look, I'll take a look, don't block me!"

"…

The shopkeeper saw that more and more people were accumulated, and couldn't help but say, "Do you buy it?"

"How much does it cost?" asked a scholar who was not short of money.

The bookstore owner said: "Thirty yuan!"

A book costs thirty taels of silver, which is definitely expensive. Ordinary books only sell a few hundred papers, or even dozens of papers.

However, this book "Oracle Bone Debate" is a thick and large piece, and all pictures must be printed in woodblocks, and pages with pictures and texts must be overprinted.

In addition, the issuance volume is relatively small, and the cost is calculated. The selling price of thirty taels of silver is not a scam.

Dear, this chapter is not finished, there is still the next page^0^After a scholar bought one, he immediately took it out of the store to read it. His friends also went out, and the bookstore became much brighter.

"I'll buy one too." Another scholar paid for it.

The bookstore only purchased three copies and sold two copies at once. The shopkeeper was so happy that he stroked his beard and was happy.

Unfortunately, no one paid for the last book. After all, thirty taels are huge, and you can buy more than two thousand kilograms of white rice.

Only then did Li Jixiu and Zhang Zhaoyong have the opportunity to squeeze in and watch the book content with other poor scholars.

After squatting for most of the day, they were hungry and reluctantly went out to have a meal.

Sucking noodles at the roadside stall, Li Jixiu sighed repeatedly: "In the past, I only knew how to study "Shuowen Jiezi", but today I finally realized it. You must know the oracle bones before you can explore the text. The Hanlin Academy has done a great job!"

Zhang Zhaoyong said regretfully: "It's a pity that he is short of money. Otherwise, if you buy a copy and go home, it will definitely be a family heirloom. Even if you fail the exam, it will not be a waste of your trip."

Zhang Zhaoyong's family is just doing some small business, so he must be richer than Li Jixiu, but he can't take out thirty taels at will.

Lee Jixiu said: "How about buying some paper and copying it in the bookstore?"

"I'm afraid the store won't let you," said Zhang Zhaoyong. "There are too many people and ink, so if you don't pay attention, you will get dirty."

Li Jixiu was a little disappointed and swore: "When I save the money in the future, I will definitely buy a copy of "Oracle Bone Defence" and go home. The descendants of the Li family will understand the mystery of the evolution of words in the future!"

Two more days later, you can use the admission ticket to choose the seat number for the exam.

The two went to the Ministry of Rites to report. In addition to drawing seat numbers, the government also issued them waist cards: "With this waist card, you can go to the Hanlin Academy and the imperial court's library. Remember, single-digit waist cards can only be used in a single day, and double-digit waist cards are used in a double day, based on the Datong New Calendar. Books are not allowed to be borrowed, but only in the library. The use period of waist cards lasts until one month after the examination. The waist cards must be returned. If there is any loss, they must be reported. Otherwise, you will not be an official in the future. If you pass the top scorer in the future, you will be cancelled for your fame and honor."

Is there such a good thing?

Lee Jixiu said happily: "The new dynasty and new atmosphere are still good for the scholars."

"Yes," Zhang Zhaoyong said excitedly, "I heard that many of the books in the Hanlin Academy and the Imperial Heaven Academy were royal books from the previous dynasty. If it were the previous dynasty, it was necessary to be a dynasty official to see it. How could we, the scholars who took the exam, borrowed it?"

The two of them took the waist sign and headed straight to Hanlin Academy, but they saw that the library was already crowded.

In desperation, I went to the Imperial Heavenly Courtyard, and there were fewer scholars here.

Li Jixiu picked up an issue of the internally published "Imperial Academy Journal". He had already taught himself mathematics and physics and could barely reach the level of high school graduation. But when he opened this academic journal, he seemed to be reading a book of heaven. He didn't know many symbols, and it was the first time he heard of various terms.

When he came to Zhang Zhaoyong, Li Jixiu whispered: "My brother, after reading this book, I feel that I am a child. What are the scholars of the Imperial Academy of the dynasty studying? "

"Who knows?" Zhang Zhaoyong was flipping through a book called "The Four Seas" and was reading it with relish.

The author of "The Four Seas" is Ai Ruluo, a European missionary. This book was only printed and published last year.

After reading a chapter, Zhang Zhaoyong smiled and said, "There are mainlands in the extreme east, namely Amerika. The lands are all native to foreign countries and civilized.

There are the Mayans and the Incas, as if I was in ancient China. The most strange thing is that hundreds of Spaniards can destroy a country and turn all the people into slaves."

"In this way, Spain is all robbers," said Lee Jixiu.

Zhang Zhaoyong continued to look down, and soon exclaimed: "The Indian emperor at this time was actually a descendant of the Mongols."

India is India, and India is India, with different transliterations.

Li Jixiu said: "Genghis Khan swept the world, and the Mongols were naturally everywhere."

Zhang Zhaoyong said: "Today, India's Mughal Kingdom, with the Yeer Qiang Kingdom in the Western Regions, the founding monarch was a pair of cousins. They were defeated by the Uzbek Khanate. My cousin led more than a thousand remaining soldiers to establish the Mughal Kingdom in the Indian Regions. My cousin led more than a thousand remaining soldiers to establish the Yeer Qiang Kingdom in the Western Regions.

Li Jixiu said in surprise: "Is Tianzhu so weak? Can more than a thousand remaining soldiers establish a country there?"

Zhang Zhaoyong smiled and said, "If my Datong Heavenly Soldiers go to India, I am afraid that I can establish another country outside the territory."

These two traditional scholars, in the library of the Imperial Palace, have been completely opened for half a month, and their worldview has been almost reshaped.

****

Dear, this chapter is over, I wish you a happy reading!^0^
Chapter completed!