Chapter 1071 No Features
The next morning, Sun Shan started another day trip to Yuanlu County.
Although there is a car to ride, it is quite tiring to keep on traveling.
Especially the young man Wang Jiaxing, who was still excited to ask Sun Shan questions on the first day, but on the second day he just lay on the car, motionless, looking ahead in a daze, and no longer thought about asking questions.
Sun Dingnan shook his head and said, "Wang Tongsheng, you can't do this. You have to know that to take the imperial examination, you must not only be able to study, but also be in good health. Our master went to Beijing twice to take the exam. The journey was difficult. Without some endurance and physical strength, there is no way to make it to the capital."
After a pause, he added, "Even if you get to the capital, it's not all good. You still need a healthy body to enter the examination room. Especially for the imperial examination, the capital is very cold, and you can only wear thin clothes during the examination. One examination lasts three days, three consecutive examinations, and sometimes you have to stay in the examination room for nine days in the cold and hunger. Without a healthy body, you can't do it."
Sun Dingnan thought of his poor cousin He, who had tried his best to successfully reach the capital, but was "kicked out" from the examination room. How pitiful.
When it comes to the imperial examination, Wang Jiaxing became interested.
Because no teacher had ever told him the details of going to the capital to take the imperial examination, in his mind, only his cousin could go to the capital to take part in the examination.
It’s just that my cousin has never passed the exam and has never returned home.
Wang Jiaxing's eyes widened as he asked curiously, "I heard that you have to take off all your clothes to be touched before entering the examination, and you have to shower and change clothes before you can take the examination. Is this true?"
Sun Shan looked at Wang Jiaxing speechlessly. He asked this instead of asking so many important questions.
It seems that she is very bothered by the step of stripping naked.
Haha, so what if you mind? If you want to take this path, this step is indispensable.
Sun Shan said calmly, "There is no need to wait for the imperial examination. The provincial examination requires you to be naked."
Then he continued, "The college entrance examination, the provincial examination, the metropolitan examination, in fact, the provincial examination is the most difficult and the most painful. Don't think too much, just study hard and think about it after you pass the college entrance examination."
It is too far away for a student to dream of taking the imperial examination, so he should focus on the academy examination in August and become a scholar.
As for the remaining provincial and metropolitan examinations, whether one can pass them depends not only on good academic performance but also on some luck.
After Sun Shan said this, Wang Jiaxing's attitude immediately straightened up. He forced himself to stand up, took out his little notebook and began to ask Sun Shan for advice.
If you don't wait until now, you will have no chance if you go back.
It is rare to have Mr. Sun, the most knowledgeable person in Yuanlu, by my side. I must cherish him.
Sun Dali was driving a mule in front to explore the way. As they walked, they saw a town.
He said happily, "Master, do you want to go to the town and take a look?"
In fact, Sun Dali didn't know what Sun Shan wanted to investigate, but he just went to where there were more people.
You can learn a lot of information by chatting with some ordinary people.
Just like when I was in Nanjing or Beijing, carrying sacks at the docks, there were always different gossips to talk about every day because of the people coming and going.
Haha, even though they don’t speak the same language, they can understand a lot of gossip.
Sun Shan looked ahead and saw that it was indeed quite lively, so he got off the car and said, "Okay, let's walk around and take a look."
Gui Ge'er immediately handed the mule to Sun Erjie and followed Sun Shan closely, acting as his personal bodyguard.
The same goes for Sun Dali. Wherever he goes, he must be accompanied by Sun Shan, otherwise he will not be a qualified bodyguard.
Sun Shan looked at the archway that read "Xiaoxi Town", and then looked at a stream flowing not far away.
I couldn't help but smile. The name is so simple, crude and easy to understand.
Sun Shan walked in first, saw the stall, and asked about the price.
When the small vendors saw Sun Shan and his group, they thought they were big customers and started to introduce themselves enthusiastically, even saying that they could get discounts if they bought in large quantities.
Sun Shan just asked about the price but didn't buy anything. After learning the price, he left in a daze.
Leaving behind the street vendors who looked like cursing.
Sun Shan discovered that daily necessities in Yuanlu, such as firewood, rice, sauce and vinegar, were almost the same as those in Huangyang County.
However, the price of salt here is obviously too high. Perhaps salt is not produced here, so it has to be imported from outside, which greatly increases the cost.
Especially in Guangzhou, salt is cheaper, cheaper than in Sunjiacun.
This is the advantage of the origin and bulk cargo distribution center.
The things Yuanlu needs to import from outside are often expensive.
Thanks to the farmers' self-sufficient farming life, the cost of living is much lower.
Sun Shan wrote down all the prices he had asked for and summarized them in his diary in the evening.
Tired of walking, the group found a small restaurant to eat.
Gui Ge'er said cheerfully, "Little Second Brother, give us some steamed buns."
Then he asked, "Brother Shan, do you want to eat some pig's trotter rice noodles?"
When Sun Shan saw the steamed dumplings, he said, "Brother Xiaoer, serve some steamed dumplings as well. A bowl of pork trotter rice noodle for each person."
Speaking of pig's trotter rice noodles, when I first asked Master Zhang about Yuanlu, he reported the wrong ingredients.
The most popular dish in Yuanlu is not pork trotter rice, but pork trotter vermicelli.
Similarly, Yuanlu does not have Jietan tea, which is a specialty of Chenzhou Prefecture.
If there are vendors in Yuanlu claiming to have Jietan tea, they are actually using other teas to impersonate it.
Anyway, Yuanlu also belongs to Chenzhou Prefecture, so it’s easy to pretend to be someone else.
The waiter saw that there were more than ten customers and hadn't had such a big business for a long time. He immediately agreed with a smile: "Okay, sir, wait a moment, I'll do it."
Wang Jiaxing was so happy when he saw the familiar pork trotter noodles.
She said happily: "I love eating pig's trotter rice noodle the most. I have to eat a bowl from time to time. If I don't eat it for a while, I will be very greedy."
Sun Shan looked at Wang Jiaxing with amusement. He had only been with him for two days. Did that count as “some time”?
It seems like every day I spend with him out there is like a year.
After spending some time together, I found that Wang Jiaxing, because his family was well off, had many of the bad habits of "rich" children: he was lazy, complained, and was spoiled.
But overall he is still a good young man, and a good young man with a promising future.
After years of precipitation, I believe it will mature.
The waiter quickly served the pork trotter rice noodle to everyone, and everyone was craving for it.
After eating and drinking enough, your body and mind will be much healthier.
Such inspections are really a waste of money. Eating, drinking, defecating, urinating and sleeping all cost money. If it weren't for the purpose of finding out the truth, Sun Shan would not have spent his own money on public inspections.
Alas, his life as a county magistrate is so miserable. In order to achieve some results, he has to spend a huge amount of money first.
It's like spending money to work.
Sun Shan went to the "farmer's market" again.
Shiitake mushrooms, black fungus, bamboo shoots, wild honey, dried fish, etc. are all popular agricultural products.
Yuanlu County has it, Huangyang County also has it, but it has no special features at all, so it is difficult to create topics about agricultural products.
Sun Shan sighed secretly. After wandering around for two days, he couldn't find any "highlights" of Yuanlu.
If you want to create Yuanlu characteristics through local specialties, it seems that this approach is not feasible.
Alas, I can only be patient and try again.
Maybe I can find something that is completely different about Yuanlu from other places.