Chapter 28 28The emperor wants to regain his face
Wei Guangde has been in Ming Dynasty for almost half a year. He has been wandering back and forth between Baihusuo and Madang Town all day long, and he has never been to any place farther away.
This time the whole family went to his uncle's house in Qianhusuo, which was Wei Guangde's first long trip since he came here.
At this time in the Ming Dynasty, horse-drawn carriages did not have any shock-absorbing design, and the road conditions on this road were relatively good, but in Wei Guangde's view, they were also full of potholes and very bad.
Sitting in the car, Wei Guangde was quickly stunned and wanted to get out of the car to change with his elder brother.
On this trip, they took away the only two horses owned by the family. One was used as a harness and the other was ridden by the elder brother.
The carriage is not big and cannot accommodate four people.
They went out at Tatsuki, probably around 8 o'clock, and it was already Sishi when they arrived at Qianhushao, and they had been walking for almost an hour.
Wei Guangde also learned the time after he arrived here, Zichou Yinmao, Chen Siwuwei, Shen Youxuhai.
Two hours is one hour. Wei Guangde also knew this before. The hour is calculated from 23:00 the day before to 1:00 the next day, and so on.
It's just that Wei Guangde still has to memorize the time in his mind to tell what time it is, unlike his elder brother and the others who can tell it just by looking at the sky.
But at this moment, Wei Guangde remembered that when later generations celebrated the Spring Festival, the days were based on the lunar calendar. As a result, the CCTV Spring Festival Gala still used digital time, which was 12 o'clock in the evening.
According to ancient standards, 12 o'clock is already past midnight. In fact, the Lunar New Year should be at 11 o'clock in the evening. At that time, it is already midnight, which is the beginning of the first day of the new year.
There were no clocks in this era. Wei Guangde just looked at the sky and felt that it might be more than 10 o'clock, but it should not be 11 o'clock.
The family was soon welcomed into the gate of their uncle's house. The Qianhu residence was not in the county town, but not far away from the county town.
The uncle's family was all there, and soon Wei Guangde and Wei Wencai paid New Year's greetings to their uncle and aunt as usual and received another red envelope.
Uncle Wu Zhankui was two years older than Wei Meng, but he looked more scholarly and wore a brand-new uniform of a military attache.
Speaking of which, my uncle is a fifth-grade military attache, and Dad Wei is a sixth-grade military attaché. They are both wearing green robes at the moment, but the patch on the chest is Biao for dad Wei, and Xiong Zhi for uncle.
Uncle Wu Zhankui had a son and two daughters, both of whom were older than Wei Guangde.
After greeting their cousins, the two cousins went back, and Wei Guangde was taken to the next door by his cousin, leaving only the elders in the room talking.
Cousin Wu Dong will also succeed his uncle Qianhu in the future, but Jiangxi is a place with abundant resources and outstanding people. Culture and education have been very developed since ancient times, and Jiangxi has always been a province with a strong imperial examination, and every subject must have top students. The list will naturally affect everyone living on this land.
I've heard from my eldest brother before that this cousin doesn't like dancing with guns and sticks, he prefers to read, and he has always dreamed of being named on the gold medal list.
But he could only think about it. After all, his uncle's family was hereditary. If he had any brothers to inherit, why would you take the imperial examination if you weren't Yu Ding?
Children of military households in the Ming Dynasty could participate in the imperial examination, but there was one prerequisite that could not be touched, and that was that they were only children.
Because it is a military household, one person in the family must serve as a soldier. If they are brothers, then one of them must be Yu Ding. That is, those who do not need to join the army can naturally take the imperial examination.
But there is only one child in the uncle's family, so he will naturally have to take over his uncle's military position in the future. Unless you can get the Minister of War to give you a document of expulsion, that is, your family will change from military status to other civilian status, then you can take the imperial examination.
The imperial examination mentioned here refers to the official imperial examination selection by the imperial court. The Tongsheng examination does not count, it is just a preliminary selection.
Of course, because my cousin has not yet joined the army, there is still no one to take care of the primary examination. But even if Wenquxing really comes down to earth and passes the palace examination, he will still have to come back and inherit the military position in the end, unless the superiors show mercy.
However, it seems that nothing like this has happened in the 200 years of the dynasty.
There are some people who changed their military status to civilian status, but they are rare.
"Little cousin, how are you doing with your studies now?"
When they arrived at the flower hall next door, cousin Wu Dong became concerned about Wei Guangde's studies. After all, he now calls himself a scholar.
The eldest brother Wei Wencai often comes here, so he has a close relationship with Wu Dong. He has little contact with Wei Guangde, and rarely sees him a few times a year.
"I just started studying the Four Books this year. I was still enlightened in the first two years."
Wei Guangde said quickly.
The first impression Wu Dong gave to Wei Guangde was that he really looked like a scholar. He was polite and dressed like a scholar, wearing a large blue robe and a square scarf on his head.
It can only be said that it is similar. After all, he cannot become a scholar. He is destined to be a military attaché.
"Then you won't be able to participate in this year's county examination."
When Wu Dong heard what Wei Guangde said, he immediately smiled.
"There are several seniors in school who want to protect each other. To participate in this year's county examination, I may have to wait for two years before I have the chance."
Wei Guangde also heard from his eldest brother that Wu Dong took the county examination and government examination two years ago. He was very lucky and passed the examination once and became a child student. However, he failed in the subsequent hospital examination. He was sixteen years old at that time.
"Cousin, will you take the college exam this year?"
Wei Guangde also started asking now. Wei Wencai had stopped studying a long time ago, so he never asked Wu Dong about his plans.
In Wei Guangde's view, Wu Dong could just try his luck in the past few years. If he tries a few more times, he probably won't want to take the imperial examination anymore.
After all, he wouldn't know the state's attitude towards military children like them.
While they were chatting, Wu Zhankui was also talking to Wei Meng in the main room next door.
"Your sons and daughters must practice hard this year. My father-in-law will try to give you more help. The more than a hundred people you have are ready."
Wu Zhankui whispered to Wei Meng.
"What? Are you still practicing? Brother, I almost lost the ground this time, why am I still practicing?"
When Wei Meng heard that Wu Zhankui asked him to stabilize his troops, he felt very unhappy.
Just kidding, just because there were too many people gathered this time, I was almost given the field by the superiors, and whoever trains is stupid.
"It's different now. There is news from Nanjing that the emperor is planning to make a northern expedition."
Wu Zhankui still whispered, glancing at his wife and sister who were talking over there.
"We're not going to go north again, are we? Can we win the battle? Are we going to leave the Great Wall?"
Wei Meng was frightened by Wu Zhankui's words. He was really frightened.
Can he not know what the situation is with the few men and horses he has?
To be honest, he is just a showman. He looks good in formation, but in real fighting, he might as well show off farming with a hoe.
"We can't tell from the south. Anyway, the news is that the emperor feels that he has lost face and wants to get it back, and is planning this matter."
Wu Zhankui took a sip of the tea on the short-term table before continuing: "How many households of yours can you capture?"