He was caught as a demon from the White Lotus Sect and was sent to the Niulan Pass in Qiyao Mountain to do hard labor for a period of time. When he was about to die from exhaustion but not yet, Master Wang came and shouted at the Niulan Pass. Li Jinxue, who "would rather take the imperial examination and join the army than have the seed", has returned to his home in Xiaoli Village, Nanshan Township, outside Shizhu City more than a month ago.
He originally had the opportunity to join the army (join the Ming army) and earn a salary, and he could even be credited with a great merit - because many people proved that he was the first to shout at the bullpen that day, "I would rather take the imperial examination to join the army." "Whatever" slogan, and even killed a rogue soldier with a hammer.
But the problem is that he fell ill after the Niulan Pass!
It turned out that his body was about to collapse before the battle at Niulangguan. During that battle, he risked his life to fight again, almost depleting his remaining vitality. He was also injured, and the back of his head was injured. A hole was made and blood flowed all over the floor. Although he survived in the end, he soon fell ill. He was so hot that he felt dizzy (the wound on the back of his head was inflamed) and looked like he was about to die.
The Ming army who attacked Niulan Pass also knew that he had meritorious service, but seeing that he was dying, they did not recruit him into the army. Instead, he sent two stone pillars of civil servants to carry him back to his hometown for burial. He also gave him thirty yuan and one tael of silver coins as funeral expenses and settling-in expenses, and also gave him a certificate of loyalty...
However, things turned out unexpectedly. Li Jinxue, who had paid for his funeral and relocation expenses, was carried back to his hometown. Under the careful care of his grandmother Li Fengshi, he actually recovered and survived!
Of course it is a good thing not to die, but there are also hardships in living!
He has to eat and drink to live, and he also wants to go out to seek official positions and wealth, and he also wants to start a family... But the problem is that he has no money!
Of the thirty taels of silver he received from the Ming army, 10 taels were given to the fellow villagers who brought him back. The other 10 taels were used to ask the doctor to get medicine and buy food and drink to replenish his body. The last 10 taels were changed to Becoming his shroud and coffin - this is really fatal, my wife has become his coffin and shroud!
What's even worse is that he doesn't need this good coffin... The coffin is a good coffin. It was made by Zhang Carpenter, a famous carpenter in Shizhu City. The wood used is good and the space inside is very spacious. It feels comfortable to look at. But no matter how comfortable it is, no living person can sleep in it!
And such high-end coffins cannot be sold! All the soldiers and households in Shizhu have fled, and the remaining farmers are paupers. It would be nice to have a thin-skinned coffin to sleep in when they die. Who would spend a few taels of silver to buy such a good coffin? As for the shroud, it is even more difficult to sell... Who among the living people would wear this kind of clothes? So I had to wear it myself.
There are worse things!
Li Jinxue originally had a brother named Li Jinshi, who was three years younger than him. He also studied with his grandfather, but he was not a good student. He was a man who worked hard on the land. But fate did not let him go. After Li Jinxue was arrested, he still wanted to rescue his brother. He sold all the valuable things at home to redeem his brother. As a result, my brother was not redeemed, but I was captured and went to nowhere.
As a result, the Li family didn’t even have anyone who could do the hard work, and no one harvested the grain from the family land!
Seeing that the weather was getting colder and colder, and there was less and less food at home, Li Jinxue felt that he was at the end of his rope again... Under the rule of the Dashun Dynasty, he became a criminal and almost died. die! Now that Ming Dynasty is here, he still hasn't turned over and is starving to death!
He had no choice but to ignore his grandmother's dissuasion, struggled to get out of bed, put on his shroud, and went to work in the fields with a hoe... to pack some food so that he and his grandmother could live longer. .
But this disease comes like a mountain falling, and goes away like a thread!
Li Jinxue, who has not recovered from his serious illness, has little strength at all. He is staggering even when walking on the mountain road. He really doesn't know how to get to the fields?
When he was out of breath and dizzy from walking, he vaguely heard someone shouting in his ears: "It's time to open a new school to get a scholarship! Shizhu County is going to open a new school to get a scholarship... Bang Bang..."
He was shouting and beating the gong at the same time!
However, Li Jinxue didn't react for a while. He was in a daze and thought it was a hallucination - maybe he wanted to take the imperial examination too much. During the days when he was recuperating at home, he heard someone clamoring to take the imperial examination more than once, but when he asked Grandma, I realized that it was Huang Liang’s dream...
But if you think about it carefully, Sichuan has only regained a corner. How can the imperial court have the energy to conduct imperial examinations in Sichuan? The imperial examination will be held only after the whole Sichuan has recovered!
He sighed, and just as he was about to continue on his way, a very familiar voice came to his ears: "Xiucai, is this a scholar?"
Because Li Jinxue was a teacher in Shizhu City, the folks in Xiaoli Village called him Xiucai.
Li Jinxue turned around with difficulty to look, and found that it was Li Daniu from the same village, and Li Jinxue was from Chengdu. His family and Li Jin's family moved to Shizhu one after another, and they have been good friends since childhood.
However, this Li Daniu is much luckier than Li Jinxue. There are many strong laborers in the family, and he himself is quite strong and can do farm work. His father is also the head of Xiaoli Village, which gives him some advantages. So Li Daniu had a wife already and had three or four children.
Li Daniu, who was short and stocky, held a gong in one hand and a wooden stick in the other. He quickly walked up to Li Jinxue and asked, "Xiucai, are you feeling well?"
Li Jinxue smiled bitterly: "Brother Daniu, do you think I'm getting better?"
Li Daniu looked at it for a while, shook his head and said, "It really doesn't look like it. His face is not good, his eyes are dull, he walks unsteadily, and he's still wearing... Why are these clothes so weird?"
Shroud! The clothes worn by living people are still different. Black robes (blue is expensive here in Sichuan, but people are prohibited from wearing blue clothes, so people can only use black clothes instead of blue clothes and make shrouds for the dead to express the wishes of the family). His beautiful wish to be a soldier in the underworld), his sleeves are long and wide, and there are many longevity patterns embroidered on his face...
Li Jinxue glared at him, picked up his hoe and wanted to continue on his way.
"Wait a minute," Li Daniu stopped in front of Li Jinxue, "Why are you still holding a hoe?"
"I'm going to the fields!" Li Jinxue couldn't laugh or cry, "There's nothing to eat at home... If I don't go to the fields, I'll starve to death!"
Li Daniu waved his hand, "What time has it been and you still want to eat?"
Li Cheng was stunned for a moment, what do you mean? Not even allowed to eat?
"I passed the imperial examination!" Li Daniu stamped his foot, "I shouted until my throat broke, didn't you hear me?"
"Don't be kidding me, I have to work in the fields and have food waiting for me at home!"
Li Daniu was also anxious. He inserted the wooden stick and gong into his belt, then went up and dodged Li Zhang's hoe, threw it to the side, then grabbed one of his arms and went down the mountain.
As he walked, he said: "You scholar, you have a fever and are confused? You can't tell whether eating is more important or exams are more important? Your grandma will starve to death if she skips one meal? If not, you can go to my house to eat! Today is our day The last day of the written examination for Shizhu County's opening of courses to obtain a degree...If you pass the examination, you will have a chance to become an official!
Be an official! Ever since your grandfather was here, you have been thinking about it every day, now that the opportunity has come, do you still have time to eat?
do you know? All the literate men in the county went to try their luck. If I were literate, I would go too! It's a pity that I can't read..."
It turns out that when Li Jinxue was on the hospital bed, he heard someone shouting "Open a new subject to get a scholarship" or something like that. It was not an illusion, it was really a new subject! It's just that his grandma is old and deaf and didn't hear clearly!
And today is the last day for the written test of the Shizhu County Imperial Examination. If you don’t take the test, you will miss the opportunity!
Li Jinxue was dumbfounded when he heard that he was really starting a subject to get a bachelor's degree! This is not a dream, it is real. I really have a chance to become an official!
I don’t know if it’s because people feel refreshed during happy events, but Li Jinxue, who was sick and looking like he was about to die just now, suddenly became full of energy and no longer had any illness! There was no need for Li Daniu to pull him, and he ran as fast as flying towards the Shizhu County town down the mountain.
