The night swallowed the last rays of the setting sun, and the night fell slowly like the black curtain on the stage.
Considering his poor condition today, Zhu Ping'an left the words "quit drinking" on the desk and went back to bed to sleep.
Late in the night, everyone is asleep.
The next day, Zhu Ping'an was awakened by a series of knocking sounds. He rubbed his eyes, and his head, which was slightly tipsy yesterday, finally became sober again. He felt the long-lost clarity. He would never dare to drink like that again in the future, at least not before the coming-of-age ceremony.
The Ming Dynasty still attached great importance to the Chinese etiquette system. In the first year of the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial edict stipulated the ceremony of capping, and the ceremony of capping was formulated for the emperor, the crown prince, the princes, the officials, and the common people. Generally speaking, the ceremony of capping was quite popular in the Ming Dynasty. Especially for scholars, they had to go through the ceremony of capping before they could be declared recognized, and at that time they would be given a courtesy name.
Just not knowing why there was such a knock outside, Zhu Pingan got up, put on his clothes, scooped a ladle of water from the bucket into the basin, and prepared to wash. Just as he put his hand in the water, Zhu Pingan heard a knock on the door mixed with noisy knocking sounds.
Who is so shameless to do such a thing so early in the morning
Zhu Ping'an shook off the water droplets on his hands, walked to the door and opened it, then he saw the shop owner looking at him with a pleasant smile. Behind him were two officers in red uniforms, one holding a red paper and the other holding a small gong.
"My two officers, this is Mr. Zhu Ping'an." The shopkeeper nodded and introduced him to the two officers, then clasped his hands together and congratulated Zhu Ping'an with a smile on his face, "Congratulations, Mr. Zhu, congratulations, Mr. Zhu."
The Tongzi exam is a rigorous three-level exam, and only those who pass it can obtain the title of a scholar. It is indeed not easy to be a scholar, so after a Tongsheng passes the exam, there will be a special person to announce the good news - the messenger, to come and announce the good news.
Zhu Pingan looked at the messenger who brought the good news and was slightly surprised. Although he knew there would be good news, shouldn't good news be reported home? Why did he bring it to the inn
"Master Zhu, please don't be surprised. The person who brought the good news had already come to your house from Yingtian yesterday. We two brothers are just going through the motions. Congratulations to Master Zhu for winning the first place in the Anqing exam. You are young and promising, and your future is definitely limitless."
The officer holding the red paper was a good speaker. He cupped his hands and said words of congratulations.
"Thank you both for your kind words. It's a great honor for you to make the trip. Please buy a cup of tea to moisten your throat." Zhu Ping'an smiled innocently in return, then took out two dimes from his sleeve and stuffed them into the hands of the two officers without leaving a trace.
The two officers pretended to refuse a few times but then accepted it. Touching the change in their hands, they smiled even more brightly. This young master was worthy of being the top candidate in the case. He was generous when he was generous.
"Then we two would be disrespectful to refuse. Oh. I almost forgot the main business. You have to go to Jiangnan Imperial Examination Hall at noon today to write your personal confession, which means you have to write your age, native place, and three generations of resume. You also have to indicate your body shape, complexion, whether you have a beard, etc. This is an annual practice. After you finish writing your personal confession, the instructor will review and stamp it with a seal, and then it will be sent to the education official. Of course, you only need to finish writing your personal confession." The officer holding the red paper put the silver coins into his sleeves, patted his head, and then explained it to Zhu Ping'an in detail.
"Sir, you are already a scholar. When you go to the Jiangnan Imperial Examination Hall at noon, you might as well change into student clothes. This will prevent people from finding fault with you." Another officer holding a small gong was careful and gave a reminder.
"Thank you for the reminder." Zhu Ping'an bowed to express his gratitude.
In the early days of the establishment of the Ming Dynasty. In order to consolidate the rule, measures were taken to restore the traditions of the Han nationality and remove the influence of the Yuan Dynasty in the clothing system. The Han nationality's clothing was fully restored. At the beginning of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang adopted the Zhou and Han dynasties, and took the Tang and Song dynasties, and established the Ming Dynasty clothing system mainly from the four aspects of fabric, style, size, and color. There is also a detailed system for the clothing of students, that is, scholars. "Students' shirts are made of jade-colored cloth and silk, with wide sleeves and black edges, and black strips and soft towels hanging belts. All candidates who are supervised by the candidates do not change their clothes." Scholars were not allowed to wear scholar clothes before they passed the examination, but it was not so strict after the Hongwu period.
Although the gown made by his mother Chen was also for scholars, it was not the standard attire for students after all. So after seeing off the shopkeeper and the two runners who came to announce the good news, Zhu Ping'an went downstairs to find a clothing store on the street to buy a set of student clothes as an emergency measure. He did not want to leave a bad impression on people on his first day as a student.
Zhu Ping'an has been paying attention to restaurants and the like these days, but has never paid attention to clothing stores.
When Zhu Ping'an came out of the inn, he randomly looked in a direction to find a clothing store. There were many shops on the street, but clothing stores were very rare.
After walking for a long distance, I finally found a cloth shop. Business was not very good and there were few customers.
Zhu Ping'an walked in, and the shop assistants who came to greet him were listless, "What do you need, young master? We have all kinds of cloth, silk and satin in our store."
"I want to buy a set of ready-made clothes." Zhu Ping'an said.
"We also have ready-made clothes." The shop assistant led Zhu Ping'an inside. "Sir, please take a look. Do you like any of them?"
"I want to buy a set of student uniforms." Zhu Ping'an looked at the clothes recommended by the shop assistant and shook his head slightly. None of them were student uniforms.
The shop assistant was not interested in hearing this and waved his hand. "We have never sold student clothes in this shop. To be honest, I am afraid there are no student clothes nearby that you need. If you really need it, you may want to go to the other side of the Qinhuai River. Scholars often visit there, so maybe they can find the student clothes you need."
Zhu Ping'an came out of this store and found another one, and got the same answer.
Well, it seems that I can only go to the other side of the Qinhuai River.
Zhu Ping'an gave a bitter smile and walked to the other side of the Qinhuai River. There was only one bridge connecting to the Qinhuai River nearby, which was the bridge with the words "A gentleman should not cross the bridge; anyone who crosses the bridge is not a gentleman" written on it.
Zhu Ping'an walked across the bridge and saw the name of the bridge on the other side, "Wen De Bridge". Wen De Bridge might as well be called Gentleman Bridge. To the north of the bridge is the Confucius Temple, which respects teachers and values education, while to the south of the bridge are red-light districts. This bridge can indeed measure a gentleman.
As Zhu Ping'an just crossed the bridge, he heard a sweet laugh.
"Haha. I thought you were such a noble scholar, but you sneaked across the bridge."
When Zhu Ping'an looked up, he saw a girl of about fifteen or sixteen with a bun on her head, smiling at him jokingly.
This girl is pretty, with big eyes.
"What are you doing? Don't you know me?" the girl said angrily, "I wanted to invite you to my room to play."
Zhu Ping'an was a little speechless, and bowed slightly, "Thank you for your kindness, young lady. I wonder if you know if there is a ready-made clothing store nearby?"
The girl covered her lips and blinked her big eyes when she heard that. She was even more playful. "Clothing store, hahahaha... You've already crossed the bridge, why are you still shy? This is the worst excuse I've ever heard. You crossed the bridge to look for me."
Zhu Ping'an didn't want to bother with her any more, so he cupped his hands and said, "In that case, I won't bother you any more."
After saying that, Zhu Pingan walked around the teasing girl and went to look for a clothing store on his own.
"Hey, where are you going? Do you have other lovers here?" When the girl saw Zhu Ping'an walking around her, she stomped her feet and chased after him.
Other things? You sound like I have something against you!
Zhu Pingan ignored him and continued walking forward. Not far away, he saw a clothing store. It was quite impressive, with people dressed like scholars coming in and out from time to time. It was far better than the cloth stores he had just visited.
"Sir, are you going to buy some cloth for this lady?" The shop assistant looked at Zhu Ping'an and then at the girl who was chasing after him. He naturally thought that it was a scholar who was buying flowered cloth to please the girl, so he asked enthusiastically.
Hearing this, the girl looked proud. This half-grown scholar is really honest and simple-minded. He even wanted to give me cloth to please me.
Zhu Pingan shook his head and said calmly, "No. This lady is not related to me, why should I buy cloth for her? I heard that you have student uniforms. I came here to buy a set."
The girl's face darkened when she heard that. She clenched her teeth and muttered something about Zhu Ping'an, probably something like "a fool and a blockhead who doesn't understand romance."
"Oh, I am shortsighted. Please come in, sir." The shop assistant said sorry and extended his hand to invite Zhu Ping'an into the store.
There are quite a lot of student uniforms in the store. I guess it’s because scholars often visit the clothing store here when they go to Jinfenyulou.
"Hey, are you crazy about becoming a scholar? This is something that only students can wear. If you wear it carelessly, you will be beaten by the government." The girl also followed in, and when she saw that Zhu Ping'an really wanted to buy a student's uniform, she no longer cared to be angry and hurriedly reminded Zhu Ping'an.
"Thank you for the reminder, young lady, but I was lucky enough to pass the entrance exam this time." Zhu Ping'an said lightly while looking at the clothes without even turning his head.
"Come on, stop daydreaming. How old are you?" The girl didn't believe it and laughed again.
Whether you believe it or not is none of my business, Zhu Pingan didn’t say much.
Most of the candidates who passed the examination to become scholars were adults, and the store had never thought that there would be a student of Zhu Ping'an's age, so none of the ready-made clothes in the store were suitable for Zhu Ping'an. When he took them off and compared them, he found that they were much larger.
This is not a easy thing to do.
"If you ask me, I will cut and modify it for you." Seeing this, the girl came up to Zhu Ping'an and said with blinking eyes.
Yes, it can be trimmed and modified, the girl reminded the dreamer.
"Thank you for your reminder, young lady. Shopkeeper, please help me pack the smallest one." Zhu Ping'an thanked the girl and asked the shop assistant to pack the clothes.
After paying the money, Zhu Ping'an took the clothes and walked straight to the other side of Qinhuai River. There was a cloth shop there, so he could definitely get his clothes tailored. At worst, he could just pay a little more.
"Hey, you, do you look down on me?" Seeing that Zhu Ping'an didn't even look at her and walked straight across the bridge, the girl couldn't help but clench her teeth, her face turned pale, and after a pause, she shouted at Zhu Ping'an's back, her tone full of resentment.
Look down on them? Of course not. If I have to look down on them, I would look down on those scholars who read the books of sages but are still obsessed with the pleasures of life.
"No, we just don't have the same ideals." Zhu Ping'an stopped, turned around and bowed to the girl, "Thank you for your reminder just now."
After saying that, Zhu Pingan left. (To be continued)
ps: This is my first time writing a book on Qidian. I didn’t know that the first chapter would have to be 3,000 words. I’m sorry for the first few chapters. I’ll try to write more later. Please forgive me, fellow readers.
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