evening. The merchant ship was suddenly forced to stop.
"Hey, what are you doing? Get out of the way quickly!" the boatman at the helm shouted at a passenger ship crossing the river.
The canal itself is not wide, and Song Che and the others are large waterwheels, so they often cannot line up with other ships. This passenger ship is lying in the middle of the river and cannot go around.
Song Che walked onto the deck after hearing the news, and the female swordsmen also came out with their swords in hand.
"Could it be water thieves who blocked rivers and robbed ships?" Nangong Yue said warily. Song Che shook his head,
"This place is just past Suzhou. The government is harmonious and the people live in peace and prosperity. Being a thief is an insult to yourself." Look at the passenger ship lying in the middle of the river. It is not much bigger than a fishing boat. Half of it is sunk into the water. The bow of the ship is A lantern was on, and I saw three or five people scooping water out. It seemed that the boat was broken.
There was a conversation on the boat: "Boatman, is your boat still usable? Why are the holes getting bigger and bigger?"
"Oh, it's been in disrepair! You guys help scoop out the water first, and I'll just use wooden stakes to patch it up later."
"You...when you got on the boat, didn't you say that your boat was fast and stable?"
"Yes, the faster you walk, the faster you sink!"
"I've been so unlucky for eight lifetimes that I got on this broken ship of yours. You...you give us back the money!"
"Two gentlemen, you have to speak with your conscience. You have been yelling at the ferry for a long time, but no one paid any attention to you. If I didn't see how pitiful you were, I wouldn't have taken the night boat... I only gave you half a tael of silver. No one is too lazy to take advantage of you. , if you don’t sit down, you can just jump down!”
"It doesn't make sense, it doesn't make sense!" Listening to the conversation, the passenger was polite, but the driver was very rude.
But one thing to remember is that it will be dark soon, and it would be quite unlucky to sink a ship in the middle of the river.
"Hey, didn't you hear what I said? Let's go over and drive your broken boat aside. Don't block the way of the officials!" the boatman shouted at the top of his lungs.
The captain of the passenger boat responded: "Fellow fellow, half of the boat is leaking. We dare not row any more, otherwise it will really sink!"
"Then go to the side and sink! Looking at you, you probably won't be able to repair it!"
"Hey, you're from Hangzhou, why are you talking so rudely? Everyone is a sailor, so who doesn't encounter some accidents! I'm here today, what do you think?"
"Mom's Suzhou guy, if you don't have a good boat, don't try to solicit tourists. Do you know who is on my boat?"
"I don't care which ghost you carry, I won't leave if you can't fix it!"
"Hey!" The boatman also had a bad temper. He rolled up his sleeves, summoned the sailors, picked up the long pole, and wanted to take action!
"Hey, hey, boss of the ship, don't be angry. Accidents happen to everyone when out. We are not in a hurry." Song Che smiled bitterly and hurried to stop the captain and the sailor.
The boat was sailing smoothly, why did the area become dark? Song Che's natal family is in Suzhou, and his main family is in Hangzhou. The two families in Suzhou and Hangzhou are close and should help each other.
"Boss of the ship, please think of a way to help them. It will be convenient for us, right?" Song Che advised.
But the boatman said: "Master Song, you need to be more discerning. Those three or five people who run the boat at night are probably not good people, they may be thieves!"
"It's okay, I don't think they look alike. Besides, there are so many people on our boat, why are we afraid of three or five of them?" Song Che's insistence made the captain unable to refuse, so he ordered the sailors to use ropes to tie them up. The small passenger boat was pulled back and pushed to the shore with bamboo poles. In a short time, the passenger boat was pushed to the shore.
"Thank you!" Suzhou people are still very polite! The boatman said: "Don't thank me. If you want to thank us, thank us Song Daguan." Song Che smiled and asked him to continue on his way.
"Hey, brother! Where are you going? Can you give us a ride?" Two guests who had just landed from the passenger ship waved and said hello.
Song Che was about to agree, but Tang Hulu stopped him at this moment: "No, Boss Song, our goods are too valuable. The origins of these two strangers are unknown, so we'd better leave them alone." But those who heard their polite words must be studying. The talent was right, Song Che did not agree first, but first asked who the other party was and where he came from.
The people on the shore answered loudly: "We from Xuanzhou are going to Jinling to take the exam. We are in a hurry, so we sail at night. Brother, don't worry, we are not bad people!" It turns out that we are imperial examination candidates, no wonder we speak in a polite manner.
Song Che had previously suggested to Liao Heng that he should cultivate his trusted followers, and the most direct way was to select talents through the imperial examination.
These two people have the ability to go to the capital to take the palace examination. They must be the ones who top the provincial examination. If they get a Jinshi in the future, they may be able to get into the branch.
Song Che let the big boat dock, and the boatman lowered the gangway and welcomed the two of them up. Both of them are not tall. One is in his early twenties, the other is sixteen or seventeen years old. He is dressed in a coarse Confucian robe, his hair is tied up to his crown, and his face is like a crown jewel. At first glance, he thought he was a young man with a jade face. Jun, take a closer look at the older man. There is a mustache on his mouth, which dispels Song Che's idea that they are women.
The two boarded the boat, twisted the water stains on their robes, bowed their hands, and thanked Song Che profusely.
"My Excellency Liu Xingnan, this is my book boy Lu An. Thank you very much for allowing us to ride together."
"Uh..." Liu Xingnan, who didn't look very much like a man, brought with him a book boy named Lu An who almost got shipwrecked. It was quite contrasting and strange.
Song Che also followed their example and performed awkward Confucian etiquette.
"Chen Rencai, brother Liu, you don't have to be polite. We happen to be passing Jinling, and the boat won't sink if we have two more people."
"Ah? That's great! If I can go to high school in the future, I will never forget Brother Chen's kindness!" Liu Xingnan gave another big salute.
Song Che twitched the corners of his mouth twice and waved his hands, but he was curious: "This year's imperial examination will be held in mid-February. We talents from Hangzhou went there at the beginning of the year. Today is already the second day of February. No matter how fast we go to Jinling, we will go there." On the 4th and 5th day, Brother Liu left so late and had no time to review." Liu Xingnan flicked his sleeves and sighed to the moon: "I also want to go earlier, but I have a lot of housework and not enough travel expenses. I have only collected enough travel expenses in the past few days. ." Seeing that he was dressed in commoner clothes but read a lot of poetry and books, he must have come from a poor family.
It’s really not easy to do housework, prepare for exams, and make ends meet at the same time. The Liang Dynasty needs people like him who are ambitious and know how to persevere.
"But, Brother Liu's high school education, the government should provide financial assistance, right? Why can't they even come up with the expenses?" Song Che asked these questions.
"Ancient college entrance examination students" are quite interested. Liu Xingnan shook his head,
"I feel ashamed to say that I am not Jieyuan, but Yayuan. The government should have issued silver taels to assist students, but the war has been severe in recent years. The Ningguo Mansion has suffered a financial deficit and there is no charity." The first place in the provincial examination was Jieyuan, and the second place was The name is Yayuan.
The Imperial Examination was booming in Daliang. Hundreds of students took the exam in every state and place. Being able to get second place in the exam was considered quite impressive.
Besides, Ningguo Mansion, although not as rich as Jiangning, is also one of the best places in Jiangnan. Why can't you even scrape together dozens of taels of silver?
"That's not true! My young master was obviously the number one, but he was replaced by Wang Yanei from the Ningguo Mansion! Wang Yanei had a grudge against my young master. He was afraid that my young master's knowledge would surpass him, so he ran around everywhere and was reluctant to give money. This is what led to our downfall!" The little book boy was indignant and might have revealed the truth.
