No matter what the reason was, Guo Pu finally agreed to Gao Jingshi's request to become a disciple, but he refused to return to Beijing immediately, saying that he would wait for Gao Jingshi to pass the small test before returning to Beijing together.
In other words, if Gao Pragmatic fails to pass the small test, then the apprenticeship will come to an end.
There is one thing that needs to be explained here: scholars in the Ming Dynasty had to take the county examination first, and then they could take the prefecture examination after being admitted. They could take the Taoist examination only after being admitted in the prefectural examination. Those who passed the Taoist examination were called shengyuan, and those who failed were called tongsheng.
In other words, people like Gao Pingshi, who have never taken an exam, are not even considered Tongsheng, they can only be called Tongzi.
However, in the Ming Dynasty, there were two exams every three years. Gao Pragmatic could take the county exam, prefectural exam, and road exam in one go this year - provided that the exam goes well.
In the Ming Dynasty, it was not easy to become a boy student, and even more difficult to become a member of the imperial examination. Because scholars take the county examination, there is a limit on the number of admissions. After the county examination and the government examination, the number of admissions is also limited. Therefore, even if there is only one place for a child, it must be checked twice by the county and the government, and whether the child can be To successfully become a student, you still have to pass the final test, which also has a quota limit.
Relatively speaking, because the academic style in the north is not as strong as in the south, the competition between northern scholars is a little looser than that of southern scholars. In some areas south of the Yangtze River, such as South Zhili, Zhejiang and other places, it is really a single-plank bridge with thousands of troops and horses. A county examination can win hundreds or even hundreds of people, and a prefecture can usually win thousands of people. For a slightly larger prefecture, it is not uncommon for a prefecture to win thousands of people, which shows how difficult it is.
Gao Jingshi's birthplace is Xinzheng County, Kaifeng Prefecture, Henan Province. Kaifeng Prefecture needs no introduction. It is a major prefecture in the past dynasties, so it is also an area with fierce competition among the northern provinces.
Of course, Guo Pu had read Gao Jingshi's article. He insisted on waiting for Gao Jingshi to pass the test before returning to Beijing. He didn't think that Gao Jingshi would fail the test, but he just didn't want to go to the capital alone. It would be too embarrassing.
Guo Pu's family was cramped, so Guo Pu did not stay in Gao Pragmatism, and asked him to go directly to the road the next day without having to say goodbye again. Gao pragmatic knew Guo Pu's character, and since he explained it like this, there was no need to do anything extra, so he returned to Anyang and rested for the night.
Early the next morning, Gao pragmatically set off from Yecheng Ma Yi and headed south to Weihui Mansion, then transferred to Xinxiang County in the southwest, took Kangcai Ma Yi to Xingyang, went south, passed Zhengzhou, and then passed Guodian Ma Yi to Xinzheng.
The ancestral home of the Gao family is not in Xinzheng County, but in Gaolaozhuang in the northeast of the county. This name is very famous, but it is not the Gaolaozhuang in "Journey to the West". Its location is approximately Xigao Village, Hezhuang Town, Xinzheng City in later generations. Sakon.
Gaolaozhuang is not far from Xinzheng County, about ten miles out of the city. Because Gao Pragmatic came from the north, he simply did not enter the county seat and went straight to Gaolaozhuang.
Since entering the border of Xinzheng County, there are a few more things on Gao Pragmatic's carriage: a small triangular flag has been inserted into the left and right shafts of the carriage. In the middle of the small flag is the word "gao", and on both sides of the word "gao" there is a statue of a human face and a snake body, intersecting on the left and right. , surround the tall characters.
This is a unique symbol of the Gao family, equivalent to the family logo in Europe. However, this pattern is not uncommon in Xinzheng - the human face and the snake body are the tribal totems recorded in ancient books as Xuanyuan Huangdi, and Xinzheng is the hometown of Xuanyuan Huangdi, so almost all the famous families in Xinzheng have the human face and the snake body as their ornaments.
The only difference is the tall character in the middle.
Among the Gao family in Xinzheng, only the Gaolaozhuang family deserves these four words.
Now that he has arrived in Xinzheng, Gao Jue no longer has to follow Gao Jingshi nervously. He has been in Gao Laozhuang for many years and almost everyone knows him, so he went to Gao Laozhuang in advance to inform Gao Jingshi of his return to his hometown.
Of course, Gao Jingshi is a junior. The notice is not to ask Gao Laozhuang to send someone out to pick him up, but to ask each room to be prepared. Gao Jingshi must visit them one by one.
Since the eldest uncle Gao Jie has passed away, the second uncle Gao Dun is in Nanjing, the third uncle Gao Gong is in the capital, and the fourth uncle Gao Cao died young. Only the fifth uncle Gao Cai returned to his hometown early due to illness, but Gao Cai did not live in Gaolaozhuang. , but lives in the county town, so Gao Pragmatic can go back to his own home first, which is the sixth room.
Gao Jingshi's mother, Zhang, originally planned to go to Fengyang to be with her husband this year. It was precisely because Gao Jingshi wanted to return to his hometown to take a test that she stayed a few more months. Now she is at Gao Laozhuang's home. When she heard that her eldest son had finally come back, she hurriedly called for help. When people are ready, they themselves take a bath and change clothes, and wait to see him in a pragmatic manner.
However, when Gao Pingshi arrived at Gao Laozhuang, he found that there were still people greeting him - they were all brothers of the same generation, not a single woman.
The leader was already in his early thirties. He looked very talented, but his behavior was frivolous. He was Gao Wuzi, the only son of uncle Gao Jie. Gao Jingshi knew that the real "eldest young master" of the Gao family had not inherited any of his father's excellent genes and was a complete playboy.
When Gao Pangshi got out of the car, Gao Wuzi was talking to someone next to him with an unhappy look on his face. The man seemed to be trying to persuade Gao Wuzi, but Gao Wuzi ignored him.
Seeing Gao Wuzi getting off the car and walking on foot, all the brothers of the Gao family originally wanted to greet him, but Gao Wuzi did not move and everyone looked embarrassed, so they had to stop.
Gao Pragmatic seemed not to have seen him before, and quickly stepped forward to greet him.
Gao Wuzi reluctantly returned the gift, looked at the cavalry accompanying Gao Jingshi, and said in a neutral tone: "I heard that Jingjing made a fortune in the capital, and it seems to be true... Oh, it's really different for this to be valued by the third uncle. , the boss boy can also make a lot of money every day."
Gao Pingshi smiled and said: "Brother is laughing at me, but I just made some cleansing things, and luckily your majesty liked them. Today, my hair grows, and it's not worth a penny."
"Oh? It's not worth a cent?" Gao Wuzi chuckled: "Since it's not worth a cent, why not pass on the method of making this thing to our brothers, so that we can all use it?"
Gao Pingshi secretly sighed that his uncle had no successor, but he looked embarrassed and hesitated to speak.
"Why, you can't bear to part with it? Didn't you say it's not worth your time?" Gao Wuzi sneered: "You have learned to be duplicitous at such a young age, how can you do it in the future!"
There have been many times when I have been duplicitous. Are you going to bite me?
Gao Pingshi was despised in his heart, but with a look of fear on his face, he explained: "The eldest brother misunderstood. It's not because the younger brother is stingy. It's just that after this soap was presented to His Majesty, His Majesty was very happy for a moment. He once said that this soap can only be made exclusively by the younger brother. , it’s because it’s difficult.”
Gao Wuzi didn't expect that there would be such a problem, and he was speechless. Then he became suspicious and asked: "Your Majesty, you still care about this? Are you deceiving me?"
Gao pragmatic sighed and said, "If you don't believe me, brother, you might as well write to your third uncle and find out what's going on."
"This..." Gao Wuzi knew that he was not liked by Gao Gong, so he said angrily: "That's all, I just said it casually, is it really that those few copper coins are missing?"
