After the rich young man finished speaking, his figure disappeared into the crowd.

He came and left quickly, as if he had come to Song Chi on purpose to say this.

"Wang Kang? Young Master Kang?"

Song Chi was muttering, and then Lao Mo exclaimed in surprise: "It seems that the Great Qin Emperor is called Wang Kang!"

"But..." Old Mo changed the subject, "He must have just heard some rumors and was pretending. Nowadays, many people don't even know about the Qin Dynasty."

Song Chi remained silent. He remembered clearly that the wealthy young man had spoken in his own voice, as if he had personally experienced it, as if he were the Great Qin Emperor...

Not sure if it was an illusion, but Song Chi always felt that this rich young man suddenly appeared just to find him.

We will meet again.

These are the words he left behind.

"Each person must pay ten coins to enter the city. If you can't afford the entrance fee, you can't enter the city."

At this time, the loud shouts of the yamen runners at the city gate interrupted Song Chi's thoughts, and he noticed that there was already a long queue in front of the city gate.

"Why do I have to pay to enter the city gate? Where did this rule come from?" Lao Mo complained in confusion.

“It’s revenue generation.”

Song Chi immediately thought of the reason. There would be two examinations in the next four months, as well as the provincial examination held every three years. All the candidates and students would come. He took the opportunity to charge a passing fee and make money from the candidates and students.

If nothing unexpected happens, the prices in Jiangzhou City will also rise in the next few days, especially the rent, which is likely to increase even more outrageously. Candidates from other places will have to find a place to stay when they come here.

Although there is an academy, you cannot enter it casually.

Song Chi had inquired about it before coming here. Generally speaking, those who passed the provincial examination were eligible to study in an academy. There were several academies in Jiangzhou City, and the best one was undoubtedly the Nandu Academy. However, ordinary candidates were not qualified to study there at all.

Even if you can get into an ordinary college, you will have to spend a lot of tuition and miscellaneous fees.

Song Chi was the top scorer in both the county and prefecture exams. He was qualified to enter the Nandu Academy, and because he was the first, he was exempted from tuition and miscellaneous fees, which saved him a lot of money.

If you live outside, you will probably have to spend a lot of money. During this period, not only will the rent increase, but the prices of brothels and gardens will also increase.

The candidates and students are all scholars, and the place scholars like to go most is brothels.

You have to spend more money on food, drink, and entertainment, and only ordinary people will suffer this. This situation will continue until the end of the exam, and ordinary people's travel will be greatly affected, and they will spend more money for no reason.

At this time, a young man in front was about to quarrel with the yamen runner. He should be an ordinary citizen, wearing coarse linen clothes. He went out of the city to the mountains to look for medicine, but was stopped when he was about to return home.

The yamen runners were "impartial and impartial" and only cared about money, not people. If you didn't pay, you couldn't enter the city.

The young man hesitated for a long time, but finally handed over the money reluctantly.

On the other side of the city gate, many people were lingering outside the city, not knowing what to do because they couldn't afford the money. This was a blatant way of making money.

Song Chi knew that the imperial court had no rules for collecting gate fees, and that this was entirely a private decision made by the local officials. Since it was not within the rules, the money collected went into his own pocket.

He followed the crowd and people around him were talking about it.

"It's like this every time there's a major exam. Everything goes up in price. I'm afraid I can't even afford to go to a brothel." A scholar dressed as a scholar sighed.

It can be seen that he is dressed in ordinary clothes and his family background is not wealthy.

"Not to mention a small wealthy family like us, I'm afraid even a wealthy family wouldn't be able to withstand it."

Another companion couldn't help but complain, "The tuition fees at the academy have been extremely high in recent years. I can't afford to go in. I heard it's increased again this year."

"They say the poor are good at literature and the rich are good at martial arts. I think it's the rich who are good at literature and martial arts. How can a poor person afford to go to school? Even if he could afford to go to school, he wouldn't be able to take the exams. He wouldn't have to pay for travel expenses, food, clothing, housing, and transportation... The poorer the place, the harder it is to get ahead."

The two sighed, and someone nearby echoed, "That's not the case. The current Prime Minister was born in poverty, yet he emerged from the mountains, passed the imperial examination, and ascended to the highest position in the government."

"There is only one Prime Minister in the world. How can we compare to him?"

"We scholars should take this as our aspiration and take the Prime Minister as our role model." A student said solemnly with a firm gaze.

Born in poverty, he emerged from a poor place, entered the official career through the imperial examination, and became a first-rank official in middle age. This story is indeed inspiring and has made Song Shiwen a role model for countless scholars to emulate.

Song Chi sneered at what he heard.

Song Shiwen's parents died early, and his family was penniless and poor. He was begging on the street in the middle of winter when his kind mother met him and gave him a bowl of food. The two knew each other from then on.

The mother often helped him, and the two of them became familiar with each other.

Song Shiwen was determined to pass the imperial examinations and escape poverty, so his mother continued to support his studies.

At that time, the Su family was not rich.

His mother went out to work early to support him, but Song Shiwen did not make their relationship public on the grounds that his family background was not good. He said that after he passed the imperial examination, he would come back to marry his wife in a sedan chair carried by eight people and a red wedding dress that was ten miles long.

Therefore, no one knew that Song Shiwen had such a story.

His mother gave him everything, including the most important things for a woman: her reputation and chastity. She believed what he said.

At that time, the travel expenses for Song Shiwen to go to Beijing for the imperial examination were raised by the Su family, but Song Shiwen never returned. Later, it was learned that he had already married someone else and had become successful.

The night my mother learned the news, she vomited blood and died.

......

These memories flashed through Song Chi's mind unconsciously, and he quietly clenched his fists.

Song Shiwen deserves to die!

At this point, the surrounding scholars had already changed the subject. "Jiangzhou City is a prosperous place, especially its brothels and gardens. There are eighteen of them on both sides of the Jinshui River... By evening, the brothels are filled with beautifully dressed girls..."

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!