Village Chief Li, who was standing at the front, waved his hand and said softly, "Xiao Su, there's no need to say these kind words anymore. It's getting late. Let Li Hu and others escort you to the county seat."
Su Qi'an nodded, took a step forward, held Qin Ziyin's hand, and said goodbye. The villagers who gathered around him were also quite sensible and stepped away, leaving the young couple alone for some time.
"Madam, wait for my husband to come back. He will definitely go to high school, and our lives will get better and better."
"Well, I believe your husband has this strength. The slave family is waiting for his return at home."
Su Qi'an and Qin Ziyin hugged each other tenderly, and separated after a while. Li Hu, Zhao Da, Tieniu and Shui Sheng in the distance understood and drove a donkey cart forward.
Su Qi'an got into the car and said goodbye to many villagers. Under Li Hu's driving, the five figures gradually disappeared.
This time, Su Qi'an and the others took the official road, and nothing happened along the way. It was very smooth.
Today is the county examination in the seven counties of Sichuan County. It is a big event for Sichuan County. Even though the public security in the county is not good, on such days, the bandits in each mountain are very quiet.
Anyone who dares to go down the mountain to rob someone on such a day will either be kicked in the head or flooded, or a slap in the face of the Great Liang court.
The imperial examination represents the officialdom of Da Liang. Even if there is some turmoil in Da Liang, it is definitely not a reason for these bandits to act recklessly.
Once they move, it may not be the county officials who will be dispatched to suppress the bandits, but the military troops of Great Liang.
Because of this, during the annual imperial examinations in each county, even the lowest-level rural examinations, the public security during that period is the best.
Walking on the official road, there are usually not many people there. Now as we approach Lingbei County, we can see many people riding in various vehicles along the way.
Those who come from a wealthy family naturally have a tall head and a big horse. Most of those who come from a poor family are like Su Qi'an, either riding a donkey cart or walking.
In just a few hundred meters, Su Qi'an saw no less than twenty or thirty students rushing to take exams, and it looked quite lively.
The Daliang imperial examination is divided into four levels, namely the rural examination for selecting children and scholars within a county, and the county examination for selecting candidates from within a county.
and the state examination for selecting the highest level of Jinshi. Generally, after becoming a Jinshi, they will go to the capital to participate in the palace examination presided over by the three princes and even the emperor of the current dynasty. The top ten are called Jinshi.
Among the top three candidates for Jinshi are the famous No. 1 Scholar, No. 2 Scholar, and No. 3 Flower.
At that point, you have really stepped into the ranks of high-ranking officials. When the time comes, you will be assigned to study in the Hanlin Academy and worship Sangong as your teacher. After spending several years of hard work, you will definitely be a very capable minister. This is what countless students have read through hard work. Ten years of spiritual faith.
It's just that this thing is a bit too far away for Su Qi'an at the moment. Su Qi'an's goal is not big. He just wants to become a civil servant. As for Jinshi, top three, etc., to be honest, Su Qi'an is not interested.
After all, if you become a candidate for Juren, you are already a candidate for official officials. In a county, even if you are the magistrate of a county, you have to be polite.
After all, there is no telling which day this juren will become the successor of the county magistrate.
As long as the county magistrate is not confused, he is very polite to Mr. Juren.
If Su Qi'an can become a candidate, he will at least have some say in Lingbei County, which can be regarded as a stable foundation.
This is Su Qi'an's biggest purpose in participating in the county examination.
Because there was no obstruction, Su Qi'an and the others arrived in Lingbei County in less than half an hour.
At the gate of the county town, Su Qi'an and Li Hu gave instructions and motioned for the four of them to go back.
Although it is allowed to bring some domestic slaves and followers to the county examination, these are done by powerful and wealthy families. Su Qi'an is a commoner, so if he brings the four of them, Li Hu, they will inevitably not cause trouble.
Su Qi'an alone is fine, but Li Hu and the others are civilians, and Su Qi'an Duan will not let the four of them get involved.
Of course, this is only one aspect. More importantly, the four Li Hus returned to the village and had their own tasks.
During the one-month preparation period, Su Qian not only studied every day, but also did something in the village.
Nearly 20 hunters in the village were gathered together, led by four people, Li Hu, Zhao Da, Shui Sheng, and Tieniu, to form an Orion team, which patrolled around Dongshan Village according to the daily scheduled time.
Not only the Orion team was organized, but also the young wives and old sisters-in-law in the village formed a women's team. Their mission was to see if there were any new faces in the village and to understand some of the conditions in the village.
The captain of this women's team is Village Chief Li's granddaughter, Li Xiaomei. Although Li Xiaomei is not very old, she is only sixteen or seventeen, but she has a fierce and bold temperament that even Su Qi'an cannot resist.
Moreover, among the women in the village, they have considerable appeal. If such people are properly used and placed in appropriate positions, they will be of great help to Dongshan Village.
The reason why Su Qi'an did this was to protect the villagers of Dongshan Village. After all, these years are not peaceful, with bandits and wild beasts, if the villagers are not organized.
If he comes again, there will be countless casualties in Dongshan Village. Thanks to some of the things Su Qi'an did in Dongshan Village, he has great influence in the village. Only Su Qi'an can achieve this kind of organizational arrangement.
Of course, this kind of spontaneous organization cannot be compared with the official army, but there is always a process.
After the fight between the men in black, Su Qi'an had an idea in his mind that a person's power is limited. Only by using the people around him and making reasonable arrangements can he find a trace of stability in these uneven days. .
This is just the beginning. After the imperial examination is over, Su Qi'an will plan carefully how to arrange Dongshan Village in the future.
After telling Li Hu and Zhao Da, and watching the four people leave, Su Qi'an withdrew his eyes, turned around, and drove the donkey cart alone into the county town slowly.
This trip to the county town opened Su Qi'an's eyes. Compared with the deserted and chaotic county town last time, this time in Lingbei County town, it was quite orderly.
The vendors hawking around were all well-behaved, and I didn’t see any forced buying or selling or robbery on the way.
Almost every hundred meters, you will see a group of soldiers and government officials in black armor patrolling back and forth.
Judging by their clothes, except for the government officials who were from Lingbei County, the black-armored soldiers were from Sichuandu County.
From this point of view, the county governor attaches great importance to this county examination.
Everyone's face showed a tense look, and the string in their brains did not relax. As soon as there was any trouble, these government officials and soldiers would appear immediately.
No wonder they look like this, this year it’s Lingbei County’s turn for the annual seven-county county examination.
There are at least two to three hundred scholars in the seven counties, and most of them are dignitaries in each county. It is even said that some dignitaries are related to several high-level officials in the county.
If something happens to this kind of person in Lingbei County, the Lingbei County Magistrate may not be able to chop off his head.
Therefore, when hundreds of scholars set out from various counties, Fang Jingzhi released all the government officials in the county early, and even borrowed troops from the county guards half a month in advance to ensure the smooth progress of the county examination.
Su Qi'an was walking in Lingbei County. He was not in a hurry to go to the inn specially for scholars to stay. Instead, he drove the donkey cart around the city.
Last time, I had something to do and went straight to the county government office. I didn't know much about other places in the county.
Now that he has time to enter the city, Su Qi'an will naturally not miss this opportunity to have a good tour.
On both sides of the main road in the city, in addition to various vendors selling goods, Su Qi'an saw several restaurants, inns, and even brothels at the end of the road.
It was quite lively along the way, this is what a county town should be like.
Su Qi'an sighed a little. After a few cursory glances, he roughly understood the whole situation of Lingbei County. When he was about to return to the inn, suddenly, a lanky young man with freckles on his face blocked Su Qi'an's way.
Before Su Qi'an could speak, this young man with a rough skin began to compliment him.
"Yeah, one look at you and you can tell that you are not an ordinary person. He must be a scholar who is rushing to take the exam this time. Such a young scholar is rare in Lingbei County. You can be said to be a young talent."
Su Qian's face was calm, and he was not touched by such a flattering person.
There are many such people in the county, and they are basically not seen on weekdays. They usually appear at various events and conferences.
He has no other skills, but relies on his excellent eloquence and extraordinary eyesight. He specializes in guiding various dignitaries and dandies from wealthy families, explaining and analyzing the situation in the local city.
This kind of person has a nickname called Liuyoujin. No matter how he behaves or speaks, it is like applying honey to ensure that he can serve those dandy boys comfortably.
It's a pity that this time the young man misjudged the wrong person. Su Qi'an was not one of those people who were taken advantage of.
Su Qi'an was not touched, which surprised the young man, but he did not give up and continued to talk to Su Qi'an.
"This gentleman is a talented man with a handsome appearance. He must not have been to Lingbei County often. Since he is a young talent, he naturally wants to get to know the real talents."
"The Wangyue Tower in front is a gathering of dignitaries from the seven counties. At this time, they are meeting friends with poems. The atmosphere is very lively. It is said that the winner's prize is one or two hundred taels."
"If you go, sir, maybe you will be the one who tops the list..."
This young man's talk did not impress Su Qi'an at all, and Su Qi'an was about to leave as he spoke.
This was the biggest failure for the young man who had been in the market for so many years. He didn't expect that he would meet such an incompetent master today.
Just when the Ma Gan young man was about to give up, as soon as his voice fell, a gust of wind suddenly sounded in his ears. When the Ma Gan young man came back to his senses, Su Qian's face appeared in front of him at some point.
This scene shocked the young man.
When he came to his senses, Su Qian's voice rang in his ears, "Are you telling the truth? In that case, then lead the way."
The young man nodded, but there was a strange look on his face. After so many years in the industry, he had seen all kinds of rich and powerful men, but he had never seen anyone as eager as Su Qian.
What he is passionate about is not to curry favor with the powerful or care about fame and fortune, but his desire for money.
One or two hundred taels, although it was a lot of money, was nothing to a rich man from a powerful family, but this Su Qian obviously went there for the money.
"Is it possible that I, a skinny monkey, who has known people for so many years, overturned today?"
