After dressing as a widow

Chapter 217

Lin Zhen bought a total of four brothers, three daughters, the doorkeeper, his wife, his daughter-in-law, and two grandsons, a total of twelve people.

They lived in this yard for a day, washing rice, grinding rice milk, drying rice milk, and then sending the dried powder to Lin Zhen, and Lin Zhen did the final and most important coloring.

Lin Zhen went to the two brothers who were grinding the rice milk, looked at the rice milk in the bucket: "This is the second one?"

When the few people who were working saw him coming, they all stopped what they were doing: "I just started grinding the second one."

Lin Zhendao: "It's still the same as before, don't try to be fast, grind slowly to produce good rice milk."

"Yes, boss." A few people were afraid that Lin Zhen would not let them work here, so they immediately went into the process of washing rice, grinding rice milk, and drying rice milk in the shade.

After looking at it for a while, Lin Zhen went back to the yard where Gu Lin lived. These days he was busy with jade powder, flower dew, and "Legend of the White Snake". He didn't sit down to eat and talk with Gu Lin properly.

He was still carrying the vegetables he bought for the two of them, and when he walked into the yard, he found that the house was quiet. Lin Zhen went to the kitchen to put down the vegetables first, washed his hands before going to the study to find Gu Lin.

I saw Gu Lin sitting behind the table, with a brush in his hand writing something on the snow-white paper, still a bit green, but the face and figure that had already seen the embryonic form of adulthood in the warm sunlight were like those in a Taoist temple The clay sculpture Taoist who eats incense and worships has no emotion and no desire.

Lin Zhen walked over and put his hand on his shoulder: "You were studying when I went out, so take a rest."

Gu Lin was still writing her own handwriting, with straight eyelashes hanging down, not looking at him.

Lin Zhen rubbed his nose, knowing that this brat was making a fuss, and he calculated that he had not spoken more than twenty sentences to him during this period, and ten of them were when he asked him to polish it.

At other times, he was so busy that he was about to fly, and he knew he was tired, so he didn't bother.

Lin Zhen pinched his pen and sat on the desk piled with books. Gu Lin, who was pinched and unable to write, finally looked at him, looked at his slender legs on the ground, and saw him sitting on the table. Looking at the astonishingly curved buttocks on the table, looking at the waist that is so thin compared to the hips, looking at his face.

Gu Lin sat on the chair, hugged his waist with both hands, and pressed his head and upper body against his arms...

Two months seems to have passed in the blink of an eye. The biggest thing recently is that this year's college examination is about to start in two days. Students from other places pour in continuously. Lin Zhen and Gu Lin went out to buy vegetables. You can clearly feel that the street has become crowded all the time, with all kinds of accents mixed.

Following Gu Lin in the examinations of Tongsheng, Xiucai, and Juren, Lin Zhen is already a qualified family member who accompanied the examination. He was not given spicy and cold food three to five days before the examination, so as not to irritate his stomach and cause accidents in the examination room.

The food brought into the examination room should be simple and filling, and the taste should not be too strong.

The water should be boiled cool, and it should be hot when you put it in, and the temperature will be just right in the examination room.

In the 46th year of Qianhui, at the end of spring.

The day was a little cloudy, so Lin Zhen got up to make breakfast. After breakfast, the two of them checked the pen and ink. After confirming that they were correct, they put the food and water glasses into the bamboo basket, and walked out in the morning light.

I found Huang Yuwen, Chen Xing, and Zhong Yan at the agreed street entrance. The three of them had also experienced several big scenes of imperial examinations, but compared with what they saw before, they were nothing.

I saw that the streets were full of students in robes, their families and servants, and when there was a slight gap, some people squeezed in and walked towards the ritual department where the courtyard examination was held.

Those who were still driving the carriage at the beginning couldn't move for a long time, got out of the carriage with unhappy expressions, and joined the crowded crowd.

Huang Yuwen was followed by a servant, carrying his basket: "Let's go quickly, it's almost time to get to the entrance of the etiquette gate with this crowd."

Several people agreed that the situation in front of them was a bit too scary. They thought they came out early, but they didn't expect it to be too late.

As the sky was getting brighter, the students on the road became a little anxious. Fortunately, when they arrived at the Ministry of Rites, their relatives and servants were not allowed to enter, and there were more vacant places at once.

Gu Lin looked at Lin Zhen, and went to line up with Huang Yuwen and the three of them with a basket. After searching the body, he walked in, and bumped into Li Quan, the Minister of Rites whom he had met at the Luming Banquet for the provincial examination, face to face.

Gu Lin took a step back and bowed his hands in salute.

Only half a year had passed since the rural examination, Li Quan found that Gu Lin who had left an impression on him was taller than when he met him in Fucheng, and he couldn't help but think of Gu Lin's strategy on drought at the Luming Banquet.

I submitted it for more than half a year, and finally made progress. This year, some places in Kyoto are trying to plant it, and it will be promoted after it is really effective.

In fact, according to Li Quan's idea, it is best to promote such a good method as soon as possible, so that the people can taste the joy of a good harvest earlier, and more people can get out of the brink of starvation.

But the affairs of the imperial court are very involved. Compared with the Ministry of Officials, the Ministry of Households, and the Ministry of Punishment, which can always stand in front of the emperor and control the center, the Ministry of Rites is only remembered when important priestly ceremonies are held. Powerless.

It is not a good thing for the supervised examiner to get involved with the students. Li Quan pretended that he had never seen Gu Lin before, and went in without squinting.

Gu Lin didn't seem to be surprised, she walked to her seat and sat down.

Today is the first exam. The exam is about classics. It belongs to rote memorization. If you can do it, you can write it with a pen after reading the topic. If you can't, you can't hold it for a long time.

Gu Lin scanned the test paper and began to answer the questions on the white rice paper.

There were more questions on the college examination paper than on the rural examination. As soon as Gu Lin finished answering the questions and left the gate of the Ministry of Rites, Huang Yuwen's voice sounded from behind: "Brother Zhong, Chen Xing..."

In the past, it was Wang Qin, but now it is him. The two of them should be said to be neighbors who grew up together since they were young. They have to check the questions at the door before leaving.

Suddenly, Huang Yuwen walked a few steps and appeared beside him: "Gu Lin, how did you do?"

Gu Lin had already seen Lin Zhen in the crowd, and quickened his pace: "It's almost the same as what I used to do when I was reviewing books."

The few of them often review books together, and when they heard him say this, they knew that he had most likely answered all the questions. Huang Yuwen and Chen Xing, who had two empty questions, were secretly worried about themselves.

The two of them did not rank high in the provincial examination, and the chances of passing the examination this time were really too low, so low that both of them were a little afraid of the next two examinations.

The second exam is two days later, Kaoyi.

Two days after the exam, it is the best subject, current affairs theory.

When Gu Lin got the question, he found that it was still not the drought last year, but asked the students to answer how to deal with Che Luoguo, who has harassed Dayu several times in recent years.

The State of Cheluo is in the north of Dayu, separated from the capital of Dayu by sparsely populated Lizhou, which has a vast area. Every winter, it will go north to plunder several times. Dayu also sent troops to fight, but the border of Lizhou is too wide to prevent it. One place cannot defend against the other, so gradually it is equivalent to acquiescing to the looting of Che Luo in winter, and the left and right are far away from the capital.

It's just that I don't know what happened to the Cheluo Kingdom last year, and they captured several towns in Lizhou one after another, causing disasters so that there were no people or animals left, so the imperial court sent troops to investigate.

Gu Lin, who was taught by Lin Zhen since he was a child to always pay attention to the changes in current affairs, cannot get in touch with many things because of his class, but he is good at collecting and can vaguely guess some things.

He frowned slightly, looked at the titles on the test paper, and didn't make a stand, or didn't make these two points, but wrote another one, "When you mobilize troops and horses, you have to mobilize food and grass." Where did the food and grass come from? The household department, where does the household department's grain and grass come from? It comes from taxation.

Lizhou is sparsely populated, so why not make use of it?

Gu Lin first proposed:

First, the imperial court can use decrees that are more beneficial to the people than in other places to attract people to take root in Lizhou, such as not paying taxes within five years after entering Lizhou, paying taxes in other places within ten years, and reissue seeds, farm tools, etc. , Utilize the vast land in Lizhou.

Second, while using the land in Lizhou to attract the people to settle down, organize the local people into a more efficient militia to deal with the harassment from the Che Luo Kingdom.

Third, once the Lizhou line of defense is established, not only can it deliver a steady stream of food to Kyoto, but it can also become the first line of defense between Kyoto and Che Luo Kingdom. half a step.

After writing the three points of view, Gu Rin's answer sheet was almost finished. From his eyes, he covered up his real intention in the first half of the paragraph, but leaked a little in the second half.

That's right, Gu Rin's point of view has always been "If you want to fight, then fight." There are more chips in hand, there are more chips to play, and there are not rich ones to play, instead of just waiting to die.

He really didn't understand why the imperial court handed over half of Lizhou to Che Luoguo's iron hoof, so that the people who could only stay in Lizhou to make a living were living in dire straits. What is the difference between Fujun and generals in Fucheng?

But judging from the little information he collected, most of the officials in the court advocated harmony, and even the emperor, whom he was about to pledge allegiance to, also advocated harmony.

Gu Lin hid his true point of view and wrote this current affairs policy that seemed to resolve the issue of Lizhou and Che Luoguo in a peaceful way, and this current affairs policy was quickly placed in the digital invigilator along with other students' test papers On the desk of a senior official.

Li Quan had seen Gu Lin's handwriting in Fucheng, and he knew who was answering it when he picked up the question paper.

He knew that Gu Lin's current affairs strategy was very good, so he couldn't wait to read it intently. The first sentence he saw was "When you mobilize troops and horses, you have to mobilize food and grass."

I have read many question papers about whether to fight or not to fight. Li Quan frowned when he saw this sentence. After hollowing out the last bit of foundation, if he really fights with Che Luoguo, the consequences will be disastrous.

But still thinking about Gu Lin's wonderful strategy last time, Li Quan continued to look down.

After reading it for the first time, Li Quan held the test paper and pondered, then looked down again.

After reading it for the second time, Li Quan couldn't help but put the question paper on the table, and drew pictures on the table with his fingers while reading.

The third time...

After reading it for the third time, Li Quan smiled all over his face, couldn't help stroking his beard, and took a pen to write a word on the question paper that didn't have any marks.

An invigilator who had some friendship with Li Quan on weekdays came over, and seeing the grade he gave, he couldn't help but look at it a few more times: "Is this the first one in Shangshu's hand?"

Li Quan handed Gu Lin's question paper to him, "Look at it."

The invigilator took the test paper into his hand, unfolded it and looked at it. He frowned at first, but soon opened it up, and then said to Li Quan: "This question is the first question in the paper I read. From this point of view, the others are either fighting or killing, which gives me a headache."

"Then now I think it's okay for me to give this job."

"..." The invigilator was silent for a moment, "It can indeed be given."

Li Quan smiled and said: "Then please Master Cui write down the grades for this examinee."

The invigilator known as Mr. Cui looked at Li Quan: "It's been a long time since I saw you so happy. What's the matter, who are you, this candidate?"

Li Quan didn't dare to answer this sentence. If he was not careful, he would be caught by the head and cause disaster. He pretended to have a headache and rubbed his forehead and said, "I don't believe you didn't read those current affairs theories. If you have something to look at, why don't you give more eyes."

"Very, very," the examiner surnamed Cui shook his head when he mentioned it, "Why are these students so angry? One or two want to roll up their sleeves and beat them up now..."

The examiner with the surname Cui didn't say Che Luoguo. Since Che Luoguo occupied several towns in Lizhou last year, the people below hardly dared to mention Lizhou in front of the emperor.

Lizhou is too close to the capital. Although Che Luo Kingdom was looted and left as in previous years, but the side of the couch allows others to sleep soundly, and the emperor is on fire.

After handing in the test paper, Gu Lin, who went home with Lin Zhen, didn't know that he was being held by Li Quan and the examiners surnamed Cui. After he came out of the examination room, he didn't mention the hospital examination. When he got up, he drew his bow and practiced his sword, and then read a book for a while.

The neighbors around didn't know what Lin Zhen and Gu Lin were doing before, they rented a shop there and didn't do business there, and closed the door all day.

Now that I suddenly learned that Gu Lin was actually a candidate for the hospital examination this spring, I couldn't help but cast my eyes on it. Some of them even came to visit with gifts, and they even secretly wanted to get rid of Lin Zhen and Gu Lin's mouth, and asked Gu Lin's opinion. Are you sure about this exam?

They have made a good plan. If Gu Lin is not successful, then the gift for exploring the path given now is enough, and there is no need to give it any more. If Gu Linzhong becomes a tribute and has the qualifications to enter the palace, then they will add it. Big chips, brush your face with Gu Lin, and even climb onto Gu Lin's new ship.

Ten days later, the results of the examination were announced.