The first month of the year was over, and Jiang Sanlang took the children to the county town for an exam.
The candidates first went to Wucheng Temple to worship the statue of Taigong, then took exams on poetry and policy essays, target shooting, horseback shooting, walking shooting, archery, carrying weights, etc., and then their height, appearance, speech and behavior were examined.
If each score is five, it is excellent.
The exam is divided into two age groups, twelve to sixteen and sixteen to twenty.
Jiang Wu is young and obviously smaller than those older than him, so he is at a slight disadvantage.
But he was very brave, stronger than the other children, and very good at riding and shooting. He soon won first place in the competition.
Hu Zi and Xiao Yao were not far behind, taking second and third place in their age group respectively.
Zhang Min and Wei Zhan also topped the age group of sixteen to twenty years old.
What they didn't know was that the chief examiner of Qinchuan County's martial arts exam was actually Xu Kun, a good brother of martial arts master Zhang Meng, who hadn't been seen for several years.
He stroked his chin with satisfaction and ticked the names of these children.
This time, the new emperor specially asked him to come to Qinchuan County to recruit martial artists, and also to train a group of trustworthy people.
Now that the new dynasty has just begun, the court is short of available talents, especially those who guard the imperial city and the various local Zhechoufu, and they must be the new emperor's own confidants.
If a new court does not have a strong military force to deter others, those generations of nobles will definitely cause trouble. Therefore, the new emperor attached great importance to this military examination and specially granted Qinchuan County 20 places for martial artists, which was 10 more than other counties.
Xu Kun understood the new emperor's intention, so he directly delivered an enrollment notice to the entrance of Dongchen Village.
As it turned out, the children did come and performed well.
A few days later, the military examination was over, and Jiang Sanlang took the children to stay in the county town for a few days, waiting for the announcement of the results.
Yingbao also followed her father to the county town. While her younger brothers were taking the exam, she went to inspect the shop.
My eldest cousin's wife and brother were busy in the shop, and they also hired two maids to take care of the children.
My aunt still lives here and sets up a stall to sell breakfast every morning.
Hong Xiao is now fourteen years old and very beautiful. She no longer goes to school, but helps her mother set up a stall to sell food every day.
Yingbao stood by and observed their business, and found that there were still so many diners. She could earn at most three or four hundred coins a day, and only a dozen strings of money a month.
In fact, what my aunt earns is not a small amount, but she still has to support Xiaolang's studies, and prepare the dowry for Yuying's marriage, and she also has to spend some money on daily expenses at home, so what she earns is not enough.
Cousin Yuying is already seventeen years old this year. He currently helps his eldest cousin run errands and deliver goods, and occasionally looks after the shop. His eldest cousin pays him fifteen taels a month and employs him temporarily to prevent him from running around and learning bad things from others.
Yingbao walked back to the shop and said to her eldest cousin, "I think the place on our right is good. Why don't we buy it and build a few shops?"
Jiang Cheng was surprised: "Where is the space on the right?" In the past few years, people have built houses on both sides of their shop. Some built houses to live in, and some opened small shops. Anyway, there is no vacant space.
"It's the pond next to our shop. I want to buy it, fill it up and then build a house on it." There is a pond on the right side of the specialty shop. The water is not deep, and it has been filled with garbage. It is messy and smells bad in the summer. Yingbao has wanted to fill it up for a long time, but she is afraid that after she fills it up, she will be making things worse for others.
Jiang Cheng: "That pond? That's fine too."
After being reminded by his little cousin, Jiang Cheng was suddenly enlightened.
The pond is not small. If we fill it up and build a house, it will be enough to build a large courtyard with two entrances.
"Go to the pawnshop and ask. If it's unowned, just buy it." Yingbao is not short of money now, but her brother will be an official in the future, and he will have many places to spend money. The little money she has is just a drop in the bucket.
Not to mention going to Jiankang to buy houses and land, even colleagues in the officialdom will need to exchange gifts frequently in the future.
If someone gives you a gift, you have to return a gift of equal value. This is called reciprocity.
Moreover, after becoming an official, the government will assign a certain number of servants and maids to you, and you have to pay money to support them.
Alas, these are all burdens.
"Okay, I'll go take a look right away." Jiang Cheng told his wife and went out.
An hour later, Jiang Cheng came back with the broker and went to the pond to measure the dimensions.
In the end, he only spent 180 taels of silver to buy the entire area.
Jiang Cheng registered the land deed under his third uncle's name and then gave it to his younger cousin for safekeeping.
Yingbao took the land deed and asked her eldest cousin to hire some people to bring soil to fill and compact the entire pond.
This project is quite large and cannot be completed overnight. Yingbao will not pay attention to it for the time being and will let her eldest cousin take care of it.
Anyway, I have given all my golden ear and white ear fungus to my eldest cousin to sell, so even if he builds ten or eight houses, it will be enough.
A few days later, the results of the military examination were finally announced, and Jiang Wu ranked first in his age group in both the literary and martial arts examinations.
Huzi is second and Xiaoyao is third.
Zhang Min and Wei Zhan ranked second and third in his group respectively.
The first one was a very sturdy young man, with a physique comparable to that of a bear.
Everyone was very happy, especially Wei Zhan, who took the test with the attitude of giving it a try, and he actually passed.
The military examination is different from the civil examination. Once you pass the military examination, you can go directly to Beijing to be selected by the emperor himself, receive intensive training, and then be granted an official position.
Yingbao was happy for her brother, but also worried at the same time, because once he became a military officer, he would inevitably go out to fight in the battlefields.
At that time, will the emperor let them attack the Little Zhou Dynasty
When Jiang Sanlang brought the children back home, the whole Dongchen Village was in a sensation.
Many families who did not let their children refer to this book regret it.
They also heard Jiang Sanlang say that in a few days these children would go to the capital with the chief examiner to meet the emperor, who would grant them official positions in person. Several of them felt so regretful that they wanted to punch the wall.
Once they are appointed as officials, they will be officials in their family. It is estimated that at worst they will be granted a ninth-rank official position like a county lieutenant.
The one who regretted the most was the second daughter-in-law of Patriarch Chen.
"It's all because of you, this asshole! You said the military exam was a conscription, and now that little bitch... has passed, she'll have to shit on our necks in the future."
Han Miaoniang hit her husband Chen Jiazhen hard several times and said angrily, "You should have told us to let our Bokang go too. He is just sixteen this year and has studied with Zhang Meng for a while. There is no way he will fail the exam. But you said that and refused to let him register."
Chen Jiazhen avoided his wife and said, "We missed it this time, we can apply again next year, it's not a big deal."
"You say it so easily, but what if there are many people taking the exam next year? Bokang he..." Before Han Miaoniang finished her words, she saw a man rushing out of the house and running away quickly.
"Bokang! Come back..." Han Miaoniang saw her son running out of the door angrily and hurriedly chased after him, but her son disappeared in a flash.
Han Miaoniang stood at the door for a while, then turned around and pointed at her husband and started scolding: "You old thing! Why don't you go and find Bokang? What if he gets upset..."
Chen Jiazhen panicked when she heard this and hurried out to look for her son.