midwinter.??

It snowed heavily in the capital.

The wheels carrying the sedan plowed two deep ruts in the snow.

The carriage was passing by a scholar and stopped in front of the guild hall. The scholar saw the doors standing in front of the guild hall. When he saw the carriage, he ran up and held the bridle of the carriage.

A young man in brocade clothes walked out of the sedan chair. The man grabbed a handful of copper coins and scattered them in the snow.

When several people saw this, they squatted on the ground to pick up money, scrambled each other, and hurriedly said, "Thank you Mr. Zhu! Thank you Mr. Zhu!"

The young master of Jinyi walked into the guild hall without even looking.

The follower beside Mr. Jinyi said, "When our master passes the Jinshi in the spring of the next year, he will be rewarded a hundred times more than he is now."

"Mr. Zhu Wenquxing came to earth, not to mention Jinshi, the top scholar is at your fingertips." The disciples said in a coquettish manner.

The scholar looked at the faces of the young master Jinyi and several other people, and showed a sarcastic look on his face. He spat and patted two hot steamed buns in his chest, and continued to walk into the heavy snow with a broken umbrella.

The poor scholar walked two streets to an old house.

Push open the door and the cold wind blew in.

The poor scholar closed the door with great effort, but saw a thin scholar on the kang approaching the window and reading a few pieces of paper in his hand in the sun.

The thin scholar looked very focused, and he didn't even know that the poor scholar came in.

The poor scholar shook his head and said, "Brother Meiming, don't look at it anymore, hurry up and eat the steamed bun while it's hot."

After saying that, the poor scholar took out two steamed buns from his arms, looked at the window paper that had broken several holes and said, "Before the New Year, I need to mud the window and make up for it."

The thin scholar lying on the kang stood up and smiled and said, "Shaojing, come and take a look. This is really well written."

Seeing that the thin scholar was about to get up, the other party immediately stepped forward and said, "Brother Meiming, put on a dress quickly. Before you can get your body clean, you will get up quickly. If you really suffer from the cold again, you will become a lifeless brother."

The thin scholar laughed loudly after hearing this, so he put on a fox fur as he said. This fox fur is a precious item, unlike the two poor scholars.

The scholar of the poor took the paper from the thin scholar. Before he could read the article, he saw the circles outlined on it. These were all the opinions of thin reading. The scholar of the poor read carefully and then said unhappily: "Brother Meiming, what is this article? Where is the teaching of the saint?"

The thin scholar smiled and said, "Shaojing, the teachings of the saints are in it, which is different from what we have heard in the past. Today I went to the bookstore to see if there are any new Chengwen. I saw many scholars copying the article with their residences, and they were controversial about this article. After hearing a few sentences, I thought it was very good, so I borrowed someone else's residence newspaper and copied it back. Although I had only read it for a while, I understood even more."

The poor scholar hurriedly said, "Brother Meiming, are you confused? The Nangong exam next year, our exams need to use Cheng Zhu to explain the scriptures. This article says, "The inner sage does not need the outer king." He also talks about the merits of things. Which point is in line with Cheng Zhu's way."

The thin scholar smiled and said, "Shaojing, don't rush to make a judgment. The explanation of the scriptures is said by the court, and the copying of this residence was also done by the court. Since this article was published from the discussion of the scriptures in the imperial court, the court would have the intention of discussing it in the court."

"What's more, I heard that Zhang Jiangling is committed to doing good deeds in the court and seeking reforms. Maybe this article is released, and it also means listening to the news of the dynasty and the country. If I had a good idea, if Zhang Jiangling was still in the court in the Nangong exam next year, you can talk less about the way of life and more about the learning of doing good deeds in the article, and 80% of the articles can be sold!"

After hearing the word "demand to sell", the poor scholar smiled bitterly and said, "Don't mention Nangong's trial. Jiazun is Gao Xinzheng's favorite student. As long as Zhang Jiangling is in the morning for one day, I will not have a day to stand out."

The thin scholar sighed: "Shaojing, it's all because of me that I have implicated you. If I hadn't known people, I had a serious illness and my family's slaves stole the money, I wouldn't have exhausted you. With this money, you can also use him to take care of me and ask your old man to say good things in front of Zhang Jiangling. How can you stay with me in this shabby alley?"

After hearing this, the poor scholar said calmly: "Brother Meiming, what are you talking about? If you want me to use this money to bribe Zhang Jiangling, I would like to die immediately. If you treat me as a real friend, then don't say anything about it, and you will be cured and get the Jinshi exam the next year, you will be repaid."

The thin scholar didn't know what to say when he heard this.

The poor scholar stuffed the steamed buns into the thin scholar's hands and said, "Eat steamed buns."

The thin scholar nodded, took the steamed bun and ate it in big mouthfuls, and did not even let go of the steamed buns that fell on the kang.

Seeing this, the poor scholar broke half of the steamed bun in his hand and said, "This steamed bun is enough, one is worth two. I ate one on the road, and you ate this half together. It's worth it. I've blew so much snow and walked such a long way."

In fact, this poor scholar was so hungry that he rumbling around, so he had eaten halfway through.

The thin scholar pretended not to know, and took out the remaining half of the steamed bun and started eating it hard.

The thin scholar was named Guo Zhengyu, whose courtesy name was Meiming. He was formerly from Putian. In order to avoid the Japanese turmoil, his father Guo applied for the position of the Minister of War in Nanjing. He was a loyal minister who was as famous as Hai Rui.

The poor scholar named Luo Yuren, whose courtesy name was Shaojing, was Jingyang, Shaanxi Province. His father Luo Zun was the Chief of Shangbao Sicheng and was demoted to the position for offending Zhang Juzheng.

Guo Zhengyu and Luo Yuren said that they were both second-generation officials, and they came to Beijing to study and travel together, preparing to take the exam. However, when Guo Zhengyu came to Beijing to take the exam, he got seriously ill. His family slaves took the opportunity to steal his property and slipped away, so they were penniless. Luo Yuren had only been friends with him for several times, but he was willing to spend all his money to treat him.

In the end, the two were driven out by the inn owner. They were ashamed of asking for help, so they rented a dilapidated house to study. Fortunately, the money left on them was enough to last until the spring exam of the following year, otherwise they would have to go out to beg for food.

Luo Yuren ate half of the steamed bun, but he became even hungry. In order not to let Guo Zhengyu see the clues, he picked up the paper and read it again.

Although Luo Yuren could not read the rebellious words in the article, he read the Neo-Confucian theories such as "Zhengyi and Mingdao" over and over again.

He felt that he was very good at speaking. He could not say such words without a famous scholar who was good at studying science, but unfortunately he was refuted by the other party one by one.

Luo Yuren looked at it for a while and said in surprise: "Do you know who is the one who debates the scriptures in the imperial examination?"

Guo Zhengyu hurriedly finished eating the steamed buns and choked: "I haven't finished reading it yet, who wrote it?"

"It is the top scholar of Hanlin Zhongyun, the current Hanlin Master last year!"

Guo Zhengyu coughed a few times after hearing this, then snatched the paper from Luo Yuren's hand and looked at it, and said with surprise: "Lin Sanyuan is worthy of being a master of classics. He is not enough to express such beautiful words. I really wish I could worship him under his disciple!"

Luo Yuren smiled bitterly. (To be continued.)8
Chapter completed!