The streets and alleys are bustling with people.
Here are the sons and daughters of princes and princes in the imperial court, who come and go as they please and speak in perfect order; there are also ordinary people in the countryside, who talk loudly about important matters of the country and the dynasty, and know the ordinary things.
"I heard that this spring, there may be the most people coming to take the exam."
"It should be related to the red moon and shooting stars last month. During this period, many strange things happened in various places. Someone in my distant cousin's family went crazy."
"Yes, fortunately our Shenjing City is protected by the immortal formation, and the red moon cannot shine in. On the fifteenth day of this month, I don't even dare to go out of the city to the countryside to buy ingredients."
"I guess the imperial court has expected it. If there are any unusual celestial phenomena this month, how can it be possible for scholars from various states to come to take the exam."
Zhou Bai couldn't help but feel a little unnatural on his face as he listened to the chatter of several vendors on the street. As expected of a citizen of the capital, he was really well-informed about the news.
Living in Shenjing, the most beautiful place under the emperor's feet, no matter what class they are, they have a temperament and confidence that the people in other states and counties do not have.
Even if he is just a man selling steamed buns on the street, he can still hold his head high and face some foreign nobles in strange clothes calmly.
This is the high degree of confidence that Daxu has built for them by being far ahead in military, cultural and economic aspects for a long time.
Carrying a bag of candied fruits, Zhou Bai ate while shopping and looking at the scholars who were passing through here.
There are people from the forty-eight states of Daxu, and there are also reference examples from various vassal states coming all the way. In the long years of changes, these places naturally have a different culture from the central dynasty.
The clothing is the most obvious. In the vassal countries adjacent to Daxu, it's okay. Scholars with high status mostly follow the local customs, so it's not easy to identify them in the crowd.
But in other distant foreign countries, their clothing has distinctive regional characteristics, generally following the principles of rough and majestic in the north and bright and bright in the south.
At this time, Zhou Bai was verifying what he had learned. He had been reading picture scrolls for sixty years, and he did not miss out on the main volumes and miscellaneous books.
"Funan, Jimi, Bagan, Shendu, Zhuyu..."
"Jin, Xianbei, Kang, Yanqi, Gumo, Gouli..."
Just when Zhou Bai was leaning against a beam and commenting in a low voice to the scholars from various countries passing by, he suddenly noticed from the corner of his eye that there were three people walking together standing next to him, and they had not left for a long time.
I saw that the three of them were handsome and elegant, but they were not wearing comfortable and noble clothes. Instead, they were all wearing red official uniforms, and even the copper half seal was tied around their waists.
Many people may think that this is because they are afraid that people in the capital will look down on them, so they use their fame to cover up their lack of confidence.
However, Zhou Bai recognized these three people at a glance. They were the scholars who had participated in the Dragon Palace Competition with Zhou Bai not long ago.
To be valued by a dragon god, they are not ordinary people. They are either Jie Yuan Yayuan or former talents who have been famous for a long time.
Looking at the Qi, it can be seen that the red and yellow Qi above their heads is forming clouds, and there is also a wisp of green Qi swaying upward. Their luck is so high that it is not inferior to the nobles.
It is impossible for such people to have low self-esteem and feel inferior to others.
From what Zhou Bai saw, this should be purely to avoid trouble. After all, there are crouching tigers and hidden dragons in Shenjing City.
Spring is coming, and they can come and go freely in Shenjing City wearing the official uniform of the people, and no one dares to harass them.
When the leader saw Zhou Bai discovering them, he stepped forward calmly, raised his hands and saluted, "It turns out to be Zhou Jieyuan. His knowledge is truly profound. No wonder he has the ability to surpass me and two others and win the first place in the Dragon Palace Competition."
Zhou Bai naturally would not be rude, so he wrapped the candied fruit and stuffed it into his pocket, then bowed his hands and said: "Formal acquaintance, Zhou Bai, a Dingzhou scholar, has met three of them."
"I'm Si Jie, who's promoted from Luozhou; I'm Pang Lesheng, who's promoted from Liangzhou; I'm Shi Xiu, who's promoted from Zhongzhou. I've seen Brother Zhou." Upon hearing this, the three of them also announced their families and bowed in unison.
In the Dragon Palace competition, everyone is a rival, and there is no time or opportunity to communicate and get to know each other.
As soon as these names were reported, Zhou Bai's information immediately appeared in his mind. In the past, he knew the names but not the faces.
The three of them are all well-known talents in their respective states, and even Pang Lesheng was Jieyuan in the last provincial examination.
Of course, Si Jie and Shi Xiu are not bad either. They are both from the big states in the Central Region, and the competition in Jieyuan is too fierce.
"I've admired your name for a long time, I've admired your name for a long time, how come you guys came so fast? I rode a dragon horse day and night and stopped today." Zhou Bai asked with some doubts.
Pang Lesheng was also puzzled: "Huh? Didn't Ningjiang Dragon King take you for a ride?"
He still has a good impression of Zhou Bai, because the two of them are from the north, and they both know each other well.
Zhou Bai was immediately embarrassed. He didn't expect this, and Ningjiang Dragon King didn't take the initiative to trick him.
If the Dragon King of Ningjiang takes him for a ride, Jingjing can let the post station take care of sending him to Shenjing. He can ride a dragon horse and be rewarded. I don't know how many post soldiers are rushing to do it.
Fortunately, they all wanted to make friends, and the awkward atmosphere was quickly broken. Unknowingly, the four of them came to a private room in a tea house, where they could talk more freely.
Si Jie still couldn't forget the scene he saw on the street just now, and he praised loudly: "Brother Zhou can actually identify which country he comes from just by his appearance and clothes. It's really amazing!"
Shi Xiu nodded and said: "Yes, since the Humane Dynasty established the enfeoffment and expansion system, there have been countless vassal states that have gone up and down in the world. Except for the countries that have been enfeoffed in recent dynasties, which I have paid a little attention to, I don't know about other countries. know."
He is a talent that Zhou Bai needs to take a closer look at. The core of Zhongzhou is Zhongzhou, and the core of Zhongzhou is Shenjing. He has to surpass many children of princes and noble families to take the exam.
Zhou Baiguang just imagined that if he started in Zhongzhou, Tong Sheng would have to struggle in the first step. It would be too difficult to accumulate luck.
"If it weren't for the great turmoil in the Jin Kingdom in the past few years, it would be difficult for me to distinguish the typical prairie characteristics of Jin people with flat faces and low nose bridges." Pang Lesheng also said with emotion.
Zhou Bai quickly stretched out his hand and made a false gesture, and said with a smile: "Let's not flatter each other, let's talk about the current imperial examination. The general examination will be on the 20th, and the imperial examination will be on the 25th. I wonder what the goals of the three of you are?"
The meaning is obvious, it is to ask whether they want to become immortals and seek immortality, or whether they want to serve the imperial court as a fellow Jinshi, and finally take the path of gods.
The three of them looked at each other and said in unison: "I want to be a Jinshi!"
Pang Lesheng looked complicated. He took a sip of hot tea and then said slowly: "If there is no red moon and a trip to the Dragon Palace, just to be on the safe side, I might really try to be in the top ten with the Jinshi."
Si Jie was not born as a county tycoon, and his luck only took ten years to accumulate. He agreed: "Well, according to past experience, our kind of strength and luck are most likely to be in the second and lower ranks of the second class, to serve for the imperial court. That’s not bad.”
"The main thing is that for every Jinshi, being listed in the heavenly register is just the beginning. After becoming a heavenly person, if you can't make rapid progress in your Taoist career and can't make meritorious deeds for the heavenly court, it will be difficult to obtain the heavenly calling."
Shi Xiu's family has the best conditions and is a county magistrate in Zhongzhou, but the county magistrate in Gyeonggi Province is not good enough. A large part of the reason for his success is himself.
He stood up, put his hands behind his back, and showed a bit of confidence on his face: "Yes, according to my talents, I will definitely be able to reach the third rank or above in the future as an official in the court, and I might even be granted a title. In this way, I will definitely be able to do it in a hundred years." Then you have to enter the Dragon Court.”
"But……"
"With a lifetime of merit, it would be good to exchange for the imperial title of a human being or a god. Wouldn't this also lead to immortality?" Zhou Bai asked, pretending to be puzzled.
"The person who has not been in court for a long time is about to enter the Dragon Court and take a high position. Do you think Daxu will just change the head of the family this time? No, I think the change of dynasty is just around the corner. How can this dynasty be humane? God."
"A fallen leaf tells us that it's autumn. The red moon and shooting stars tell us that the sky is about to change! Except for the big tree in heaven that can hold up, all other trees can only be reduced to firewood!"
"Brother Zhou is a VIP in the Dragon Palace. He must know the inside information. Why hide it?"
The three of them wanted Zhou Bai to tell the truth every time they spoke to each other.
"I can only say that you are all people with outstanding vision, and you must grab one of the heavenly places this year!" Zhou Bai said solemnly.
After a brief exchange of words, he did not analyze the core of Longting and Humanity God, but told them straightforwardly that they wanted to be heavenly beings.
"Okay, let's just say this to Brother Zhou, even if I'm the last in the second class, I'm going to fight for it!"
Si Jie, who has a relatively cheerful and outgoing personality, actually bowed to Zhou Bai at this moment, as if he only came to his senses after listening to your persuasion.
The private room was full of laughter, but after hearing what Zhou Bai said, the three of them firmly determined in their hearts that they would pass the second class.
They had only heard rumors that the prodigy in the capital was very powerful, had hundreds of splendid chapters, and had great luck.
As for Zhou Bai's performance in Dragon Palace, they had indeed witnessed it, and he was an outstanding person who could give them guidance.
After drinking a pot of tea and exchanging other information, it was almost noon outside, so Pang Lesheng suggested going to a good place to have a big meal.
The delicious food in the capital is open to all rivers, and many famous restaurants from various states have their headquarters in the city.
However, after careful Shi Xiu, he seemed to remember something, so he hurriedly said: "Brother Zhou hasn't settled in yet, and hasn't signed up with the Ministry of Etiquette yet?"
Zhou Bai nodded and patted the bundle placed behind the chair.
"Then you have to register quickly. There are not many good rooms available to go to the examination center. If you are two days late, you may have to live in a temporarily expanded place."
"And you don't have to worry about the inns in Shenjing City. Those candidates from other countries are rich and have already secured the best rooms."
"These days, there are people working in the Rites Yamen even at noon..."
"I see. If we come back another day, I'll sign up first!" After hearing the three people's explanations, Zhou Bai left decisively and left.
However, he was not in a hurry, because Qi Hua had a house even in the capital, so he would probably go and bother him.
After all, his ancestor was an earl, and Qi's father also served as a capital official, so he still had this background.
However, as long as he can solve it himself, he still adheres to the purpose of not causing trouble to others.
Therefore, when the aroma of food wafted out from the streets and alleys, Zhou Bai rushed towards the inner city regardless, while Wei Jing could only be temporarily fostered at Taipusi Racecourse. There was no place to raise horses when he went to the examination hall.
Going to the examination center, as the name suggests, is a place that provides accommodation specifically for out-of-town candidates.
When it comes to the level of examination and palace examination, generally speaking, as long as you are a candidate for the imperial examination, the court will arrange food and accommodation for you no matter what.
Even with the special circumstances of this year's Spring Festival, the Daxu Imperial Court still allowed the examination center to be enough to accommodate all the candidates who wanted to live there.
Of course, we only accept check-in one month in advance, so there is no such thing as picking up wool.
There must be a reason for the Daxu court to surpass the general three-hundred-year cycle law. What will be mentioned in the history books of later generations is the developed transportation.
For example, long straight roads leading to prefectures and counties can ensure that central troops can be deployed to local areas in time.
And now Zhou Bai is sitting on the carriage, driving straight into the inner city, running all the way without being blocked.
Because under Zhou Bai is the unique horse-drawn carriage route of Shenjing City. Pedestrians are not allowed to intrude without reason, and there are guards on duty at all major intersections.
Even if there are only a few main roads and cannot form the urban transportation network that Zhou Bai remembers, it is still an epoch-making progress and can save a lot of time.
Perhaps this is also the progress officials from the Ministry of Industry have to make.
There is no way, Shenjing City is too big, and it will take at least half a day to walk from the outer city to the inner city.
In front of the city gate of the inner city, there is a station where carriages gather. It may not be luxurious, but it is certainly large and comprehensive.
In addition to the spacious front lawn used to park carriages, there are toilets, teahouses, restaurants and other buildings further inside. Both coachmen and passengers can temporarily repair at the station.
"If you don't want to waste money, you can eat here. It's affordable and full. The things in the inner city are very valuable."
This is the terminal station, and only Zhou Bai got off the bus. He was not wearing the official uniform, so the coachman thought he was going to the city for business, so he kindly reminded him.
"Thank you. This is the fare. You go ahead." Zhou Bai thanked him and got out of the car, while taking out the few copper coins he had left to pay the bill.
When he saw the flags for wine, tea and other markets erected behind the station, he was stunned. Isn't this equivalent to a service area?
Sure enough, social development has commonalities.
Shenjing City is divided into the outer city, the inner city, and the imperial city. Needless to say, the imperial city, the inner city and the outer city have different functional divisions.
In addition to a large number of residential buildings in the inner city, there are also offices for six ministries and departments, each of which occupies a huge area.
】
Because Daxu is so big, there are too many things to deal with. Just looking at the liaison offices set up by the other 47 states and various countries, they are all a series of buildings.
In addition, the general departments of many special yamen are also here, such as the Daolu Department, which oversees Taoist officials all over the world, the Rumor Department, which investigates all the news in the world, and so on.
Ordinary people generally don't come here. Even if they come, they are doing business. They can't bear it if they offend any noble person.
The inner city is no shorter than the outer city. It is also as high as a hundred feet high. Perhaps there are fewer city defense facilities, but the more mysterious Taoist patterns are clearly visible on every section of the city wall, which is much denser than the outer city.
Under the sunlight, the Dao lines glowed with golden light, outlining a majestic and mysterious giant formation. However, Zhou Bai could not see its full picture without activating it.
In fact, Zhou Bai has always wondered why the imperial court had powerful Taoist officials but did not use extraordinary powers to improve the bottlenecks faced in the development of the dynasty.
Maybe it's because the Taoist class is unwilling to serve mortals, or there are too few extraordinary resources such as spiritual stones, or maybe the heaven above...
But now Zhou Bai has really seen the traces of Chaofan integrating into the dynasty, using formations to protect the city, how can he attack with ordinary means?
Of course, the guards at the inner city gates were even tighter, but after checking the identity documents, they did not dare to embarrass Zhou Bai, who was a candidate for the examination.
After entering the city smoothly, it seems that the outer city and the inner city are two different worlds, noisy outside and peaceful and peaceful inside.
There is no trace of worry about daily necessities on the face of any pedestrian.
Even if some people look sad, they are worried about their own development or that of their descendants, that someone in the family will be promoted, or that their own family will fall behind.
In short, during the journey to the Rites Yamen, Zhou Bai had seen too much, and Zhou Bai had only one feeling: society seemed to have completed a transformation here.
If people in the outer city and even the world are still pursuing physiological and safety needs, then people in the inner city are already pursuing social and respect needs.
Standing in front of the grand gate of the Ministry of Rites, Zhou Bai smiled bitterly and shook his head. Of course it is so for the world to support such a small part.
Now that he has mastered the art of qi reading, he can roughly see how far the Daxu Dynasty has developed.
Shenjing City is the gathering place of the dynasty's legal network. While trying not to arouse Long Qi's vigilance, he saw that the core was Danhuang, which meant that the Daxu system had been perfected and developed to a very high level.
After mastering the art of fortune-seeing, the wonders of luck have gradually opened the door to Zhou Bai.
In an area or a city, the degree of local development can be judged based on the luck and color of the French Open.
Dense gray air and sparse white air mean that the system has not been established and the legal net has not been established.
In the current context, it is in a state of disorder and anarchy. The people here must be living a bad life. Generally, such a situation can only occur in a time of great chaos.
The white gas is rich and mostly pure white, which means there is a system to manage the local area, but the French Open is not very perfect.
The people have not yet surrendered, the undercurrent is surging, the crisis is lurking, and a rebellion and uprising may break out at any time.
The limit for judging whether a system is qualified is the red legal network.
As long as the French Open is in the dark, it means that the system has a certain prestige and the public's sentiment is relatively stable.
The darker the red, the stronger the authority of the system, the deeper the people's support, and the unshakable top and bottom.
Red is the color of the general dynasty when it is at peace. Nowadays, even though the various places in Daxu have experienced various hardships in the past, most areas are still ranging from light red to deep red.
The higher the red color, the harder it will be. People can live and work in peace and contentment, and have no worries about food and clothing. Those are the basic requirements.
Only places like the inner city of Shenjing can develop with the power of the dynasty and become dull.
Well, maybe there are some areas in some cities and towns in Jiangnan and Central Region that can be reached.
People in these places no longer only pursue material things, but also spiritual pleasures.
Zhou Bai's own legal system has not yet disappeared, and he no longer thinks deeper. Instead, after being inspected by his disciples, he was brought into the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites by a civil servant.
The oncoming atmosphere is all steady. This is the Ministry of Etiquette, the most disciplined place.
Zhou Bai didn't look around and kept his manners, but when he looked inside, he still felt what cultural heritage is.
The tall and impressive gate tower, the long and winding corridors, and the water system that runs through the entire Yamen make it possible to see flowers blooming and trees shading everywhere.
After walking for about half a stick of incense, Zhou Baicai passed through the layers of painted pavilions and Zhulou and arrived at the place where Juzi signed up.
Sure enough, even during meal time, there were still officials on duty here.
Zhou Bai quickly handed over various documents and materials, including the semi-copper seal of Juren, and took them out for inspection.
I saw the official of the Ministry of Etiquette asking while asking the clerk next to him to wipe the gold-lacquered Pixiu on the eucalyptus table with a red cloth.
An invisible wave of turbulence rippled out, and Zhou Bai suddenly felt that there was a gaze coming from somewhere, and it was the Yamen God who was checking.
"You started the imperial examination at the age of fifteen, and you came to take the Chunwei examination at the age of sixteen. Even if there is no state examination in Dingzhou, you can still be considered as winning three yuan in a row."
"I wonder if you are lucky enough, otherwise you can really make a name for Dingzhou. The last time Dingzhou scholars were named on the gold medal list was thirty years ago..."
