Sun Zhuangyuan was jointly attacked by Zhou Shi'an and Sanyuan Gong. After learning from his mistakes, he decisively increased the difficulty of the entrance examination to Zhixing Academy.
It's the end of another month, and there are entrance exams one after another.
When the candidates walked into the examination rooms of Zhixing Academy and received their examination papers, more than 90% of them were confused.
Zhixing Academy, which was said to have the easiest entrance exam, also said the exam questions were very gentle...
There is no gentleness at all, he is clearly as ferocious as a monster.
MMP, the questions are so difficult, how can I pass the test?
It's over, it's over.
There is no way you can take this exam if you haven’t even finished one exercise book!
This time it's really over.
More than 90% of the candidates showed expressions of despair.
Sun Zhuangyuan put his hands behind his back and inspected the examination room.
Seeing the candidates looking as if their parents had died, he showed a satisfied smile on his face.
Very good, very good.
As soon as the difficulty increased slightly, the true colors of these candidates were immediately revealed.
snort!
You treat Zhixing Academy as a second-rate academy and don't even prepare for the exams. I'll let you know what's right for you.
After passing the extremely difficult entrance examination and eliminating all the candidates who took advantage of the situation, I don’t believe that Zhou Shi’an and Sanyuan Gong would still dare to look down on the poor level of the students of Zhixing Academy.
The one-day exam is over.
When the candidates walked out of the examination room, they were all wailing.
“This exam is too difficult!”
"Everyone says Zhixing Academy's entrance exam is the easiest, but why does it feel harder than Shanhe Academy's?"
"It's indeed harder than the entrance exam for Shanhe Academy two days ago."
"Brother, did you take the entrance exam for Shanhe Academy? How was it?"
“I don’t feel good!”
"So today's exam..."
"I'm afraid I'll need another month to prepare and take the exam next month."
"Let's encourage each other! I wonder where you live, brother?"
"I live in Xinmin County."
Rich man!
The rent in Xinmin County is several times that of Zhixing Academy.
"I'm not as good as you, so I live near Zhixing Academy. If you don't mind, let's go find a pub for a drink."
"Why don't you come with me to Xinmin County? I'll invite a few friends along so we can get to know each other."
"OK!"
The two rushed to the station, bought tickets, and took a double-track horse carriage to Xinmin County.
Xinmin County is still the best!
Even when it was dark, the market was still bustling with people, as lively as a city that never sleeps.
"Xinmin County has no curfew, so you can have fun all night long. I don't have an exam tomorrow, so I must not leave home until I'm drunk tonight."
"Brother, what you said makes sense."
Seven or eight scholars rushed into the restaurant and ordered food generously.
As we chatted, we started talking about today's exam.
"Zhixing Academy still wants to compare itself with Shanhe Academy. The exam is so difficult, who would still apply to Zhixing Academy in the future?"
"For such a difficult exam, it's better to go to Shanhe Academy than Zhixing Academy. After all, Shanhe Academy has already made a name for itself and is a world-renowned institution of higher learning."
"That makes sense."
"The people who set the exams at Zhixing Academy should listen to the voices of students. With exams this difficult, no one will apply to Zhixing Academy in the future."
"That's too absolute! For some people, Zhixing Academy is also a good choice."
"Brother, this is a fallacy! If the exam questions at Zhixing Academy are of this difficulty in the future, then if you can get into Zhixing Academy, you can definitely get into Shanhe Academy. Since you can go to Shanhe Academy, why should you settle for Zhixing Academy?"
"Competition at Shanhe Academy is fierce, and getting a scholarship is extremely difficult. Zhixing Academy has less competition, and if you can get into Zhixing Academy at the level of Shanhe Academy, it should be easy to get a scholarship. Monthly awards, annual awards, subject awards, imperial examination awards, and so on, combined, can also add up to a considerable income. If Zhixing Academy can maintain the current difficulty of the entrance exam and improve the academy's reputation and level, I think many people will be tempted by the scholarship."
Hey!
This angle is novel.
"Brother, what you said makes sense."
"Ah, it's so hard to get into Zhixing Academy. I think I might as well give up the imperial examination and go home to farm. Anyway, whether I take the imperial examination or not, I still have to pay taxes. There's no point in studying."
"That's wrong! With honors and achievements, you can at least legitimately own more land and buy slaves."
"What good is that little bit of land?"
"The new land laws promulgated by the imperial court are truly a death sentence. The court officials remain silent. They are truly incompetent and cowardly!"
"I think the new land laws are great! Starting from the first day of August, the annual tax has been reduced by more than two-thirds. My family can save thousands of kilograms of grain a year, enough to last until the summer harvest."
One of the students, who was dressed simply, whispered.
Everyone looked at him.
He said weakly, "My family is a self-employed farmer. We have 20 to 30 mu of paddy fields and a hillside. Paying taxes every autumn is a real pain. I wholeheartedly support a 10% tax rate. Even if I pass the imperial examination, I will still support it. If everyone pays taxes, the court won't have to impose additional taxes on ordinary people like us during wars."
"My dear brother, judging from your accent, you are not from the north?"
“I’m from the southwest.”
"I heard there's a war going on over there?"
"The battle was over long ago. Yang Xianggong's army has long since reached the border and captured dozens of cities. We have many farmers over there, dozens, hundreds of them, who form a caravan, transporting goods to the border and selling them to soldiers. Business is pretty good. Recently, I received a letter from home saying that Sihai Road and Bridge are building a road over here. They're going to build a cement road leading out of the country, supposedly all the way to the sea. Many people have applied to be road builders. The pay is good, and the food is good."
"Oh! Do you really think that scholars should pay taxes?"
"Shouldn't it be?"
"Of course not. For thousands of years, when have scholars ever paid taxes after passing the imperial examinations? Are you stupid?"
"But the court officials didn't object. We are just students who haven't passed the imperial examination yet. No matter how much we object, it's like a mantis trying to stop a chariot."
"Tsk tsk! Forget it, forget it, we are not the same kind of people."
"I never thought that there would be people who support the court collecting taxes from scholars."
After talking about this, the student from Southwest realized that he was annoying, so he stood up and left.
He was walking alone on the street.
The streets were crowded with people, and everyone's face was filled with longing for a better life, which only made his loneliness more apparent.
"Wait a moment, brother."
The student turned around and looked at the rich kid running towards him.
"Brother called me?"
"Exactly! May I know your name, brother?"
"My last name is Ma!"
"Brother Ma, my last name is Hu, Hu Tianyou. I just heard Brother Ma at the restaurant talking about building a cement road in the southwest, all the way to the seaside?"
"Exactly!"
"How long will the road be?" Hu Tianyou sighed repeatedly.
Ma Xuezi thought for a moment and said, "It's at least a few thousand miles away. If we take a longer detour, it could be tens of thousands of miles away."
When Hu Tianyou heard this, his heart was shaken.
He put his arm around Ma Xuezi's shoulder and said, "Come on, let's go find someplace else to drink. Tens of thousands of miles of cement road—that's a massive undertaking! The imperial court spent so much money building it, we can't let it go to waste. So, there's going to be some big movement in the southwest. Brother Ma, you're a local, so why not tell me more about it?"
Hu Tianyou, a boy from a wealthy family, was one of the first group of people to go to Jiangling Mansion to hang out because of a book called "Mr. Yang Talks about Jiangling". He took his money and his servants with him.
Unexpectedly, he found a business opportunity, earned the reputation of Boss Hu in Jiangling Prefecture, and made a lot of money.
Naturally, his status in the family also rose.
After experiencing the pleasure of making money and the change in status that it brings, Hu Tianyou became more determined to do business.
Jiangling's business had reached saturation, and there was no need to stay there any longer. He handed over the Jiangling business to the steward and returned to the capital with his servant to look for opportunities.
He had been pondering the new land law that had been causing so much controversy recently, but he hadn't figured it out.
He wanted to establish a relationship with the Shaofu, but he had no such connections, so he was helpless.
Overseas, many people have mentioned it recently. He has been hesitant and undecided.
Today, he was treating people to a meal at a restaurant and happened to hear the student sitting next to him talking loudly. He was initially dismissive.
It was not until Ma Xuezi mentioned the Southwest that he finally became interested.
After a few drinks, Hu Tianyou drank out all the food in Ma Xuezi's stomach.
Two days later, Hu Tianyou gave instructions to his family, took some money and a servant, and headed to the southwest to make a fortune.
…
Balipu Toll Station.
After years of hard work and multiple rotations, Li Dashan finally got the position of toll station manager.
The salary increased significantly, and my wife and children also benefited from it.
My wife works at a rest stop, and my son has passed the toll collector exam and is currently working at a toll station two hundred miles away from Balipu.
Early in the morning, his cousin Li Xiaoshan came to Balipu toll station to ask Li Dashan for help.
"Brother, I want to hear your thoughts on that 10% tax."
Li Dashan looked at the mountaintops in the distance. The weather was good today, so he could see very far away.
He patted Li Xiaoshan on the shoulder and said, "Come in and tell me. What are your plans?"
"Well, a few days ago, the guys from Sihai Meat and Vegetables came to the village to collect mountain products and mentioned the 10% tax. Brother, is what they said true?"
"Of course it's true. Didn't I send you a letter?"
"I thought brother was just trying to coax us."
"You're not kidding me! How can I kid you about such a big thing? Are you crazy? It's written in black and white in the newspaper, take a look for yourself."
Li Dashan slapped the newspaper from a few days ago in front of him and said, "Look carefully, did I trick you?"
Li Xiaoshan smiled with an embarrassed yet innocent smile, "Brother, you know I can't read."
"You're so stupid! You know the ten-to-one tax rate, right? Look carefully, it's clearly written on it."
"Really?" Li Xiaoshan was shocked.
"How can such a big thing be fake? It will be implemented on the first day of August, which is only a few days away. Remember, if the government dares to come to the village to collect taxes before the first day of August, don't pay any attention to them. Starting from the first day of August, the tax will be one tenth, and the government will collect it."
"What government office is the Shaofu?"
Li Xiaoshan had never traveled far. The farthest place he had been to was the county town, and the second farthest was Balipu.
He was illiterate and had little curiosity about the outside world. He was content with a life of working from sunrise to sunset, facing the earth and back to the sky.
Shaofu was unfamiliar and frightening to him.
Li Dashan snorted twice, looking like a piece of iron but not steel.
At the beginning, he also wanted to recruit his brothers from the clan. Once the toll station was recruiting, he would ask his brothers from the clan to sign up for training.
As a result, one or two of them were as stupid as pigs and were eliminated in the first round.
In the words of the manager, he is just dull and there is no way he can be helped.
Li Dashan was helpless and could only say that it was fate.
He gritted his teeth, learned to read and write, endured the greatest hardship in his life, and passed the exam to become a toll collector.
Unfortunately, the brothers in the clan have neither talent nor perseverance.
After urging the person several times, he gave up because the person was not interested.
Li Dashan told him, "The Shaofu is the emperor's steward. You should know the Shaofu Bank, that is the Shaofu's property."
Speaking of Shaofu Money House, Li Xiaoshan immediately understood.
"So the ten-to-one tax is true?"
"Is it possible that you didn't listen to a single word I said before?"
Li Dashan looked upset. No wonder the manager said Li Xiaoshan was dull. This was more than just dull; this was a fool.
Li Xiaoshan smiled innocently, "Brother, you know I gave all my few acres of land to Mr. Zhang's family in order to avoid taxes and labor service. Can you help me get it back? I'll pay the tax myself at a tenth rate, without relying on Mr. Zhang. If I give it to Mr. Zhang, he'll give me at least 40% to 50% of my grain every year, which is even more generous than the government."
Li Dashan sneered, "I told you not to surrender at the beginning, but you didn't listen. Now you come to ask me for help again. If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have done it in the first place!"
"I, I, I will listen to you from now on. Brother, please help me. If you don't help me, I won't be able to get those fields back."
"You're a pig. You're wrong. Even a pig is smarter than you. The autumn harvest is almost here. If you want to take the land back now, the other party will definitely not agree easily. Prepare to bleed."
"Brother, will you help me? Thank you! I'm willing to pay any price as long as I can get the fields back."
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