Gu Xiancheng interrupted the two of them, gestured towards the back door of the Zhenwu Temple in front of him, and dragged one person inside with one hand: "I'm afraid the blessing from you two is not as good as that of Emperor Zhenwu, so please don't delay me in worshiping the true god."

The two of them let Gu Xiancheng pull and pull them, and together they entered the Zhenwu Temple through the back door.

After stepping into the temple, it immediately felt spacious - because of traffic restrictions, half of the street outside was blocked, and it was all in time for the small temple fair.

The three of them entered the temple through a special passage and were immediately greeted by a middle-aged Taoist priest.

"Li Jushi, two lay people."

As soon as I heard this, I knew that Li San was a regular customer.

Li Sancai took out a piece of sesame oil money wrapped in oil paper from his arms and asked casually: "It's not the New Year yet, why are there so many people today?"

Although the Chinese New Year is only a month away, generally speaking, it takes half a month before the temple fairs are crowded with people.

The middle-aged Taoist took the sesame oil money handed over by Li Sancai calmly and passed it to the young Taoist behind him calmly.

Then he turned back to Li Sancai and explained, "Li Sancai doesn't know something. Recently, the Ministry of Rites granted my master the title of Praise. In order to thank the kings and people of heaven and earth, my master made his own blessings into amulets, hoping to spread them among the destined people.

"

"There are a lot of people coming to the temple to get amulets these days."

Well, free promotions seize the market.

When Li Sancai heard that it was a happy event, he immediately performed all the etiquette and congratulated: "Prince Yuan Shen has been given a teaching? What a joy and congratulations!"

The regulations of Taoism were once reduced.

During the Hongwu period, Zhang Changshang still had the title of Heavenly Master, but after Zhang Changsheng, he only had the title of Zhengyi Zhengyi of Longhushan.

And now, even the title of Taoist Master cannot be removed.

Except for the major sects such as Gezaoshan, Sanmaoshan, and Taiheshan, which confer hereditary spiritual officials and some titles, the rest can only be appointed judges, teachers, and bookkeepers, all of which are in the eighth rank.

Therefore, the title of Taoist Yuan Shen, which praises the religion, is already a great honor for the Taoist sect.

It can be said that if you use this name to perform services for dignitaries, the price will immediately double.

The middle-aged Taoist didn't look happy, but curled his lips: "A happy event is a happy event, but it's a bit expensive."

Outsiders don't know the truth.

This matter involves the money the emperor borrowed originally!

Taoist Yuan Shen took advantage of the time he was praying for the two palaces to mention this matter in a sideways manner, hoping to collect debts from the emperor.

As a result, the emperor granted Yuan Shen a title of patronage on the spot, and also gave him a four-character imperial letter of "Yuan Shen's De", hoping to extend it for thirty to fifty years.

This is no different from buying an account with money.

As for the emperor still not paying back after thirty or fifty years?

Yuan Shenzan taught that as long as it is beneficial to Taoism, then choose to believe it.

It's a pity that Taoist Yuan Shen is already in his seventies. Who knows if he can get his money back by being banned.

Therefore, middle-aged Taoist talents are said to be a bit expensive.

The Taoist didn't care whether Li Sancai understood it or not. He left behind this meaningless sentence and handed over a few sticks of incense. He stood aside knowingly and allowed the pilgrims and laymen to worship God and make vows.

Li Sancai didn't take it seriously and put the matter behind him.

He and his two companions took a step forward, walked to the statue of Zhenwu, and murmured something.

Sun Jigao on the side, perhaps because he made few wishes, had already inserted the incense into the incense burner and stepped back.

"I heard that the number of Jinshi scholars this year has been increased to 400, which is really unexpected."

Worshiping God is mostly for psychological comfort. How can everything be fine if you worship God? In the end, you have to return to reality.

Gu Xiancheng also finished offering incense at this time and took up the conversation: "I originally came to Beijing to rush for the exam with the mentality of being familiar with the exam venue, but after hearing the news, I was already lucky. I may not have such a good opportunity in three years.

.”

There is a quota for Jinshi.

Usually there are between 300 and 320 people.

Now the number has increased to 400! For the candidates in this subject, it is a huge surprise!

After studying for another three years, there may not be much chance of recruiting hundreds of people.

At this time, Li Sancai finally finished reciting his vows, and while putting incense in the incense burner, he said: "That's not necessarily true. This subject was added because there were too many officials who resigned under the examination. I heard that

Even Tu Xiying, the minister of Honglu Temple, and Liu Guangji, the right minister of the Ministry of Industry, all became officials because of this."

"If according to the examination method, if you fail to pass the examination in three years, you will be dismissed from office, then in the next imperial examination, I am afraid that the number of Jinshi will only increase rather than decrease!"

The high-ranking officials and dignitaries were forced to leave, not to mention the people below.

In addition, starting from next year, Huguang, Shandong and other provinces, water transportation yamen, salt administration yamen, etc. will all implement this method.

Three years later, we still don’t know how many official positions will be lost.

Even this year, according to Li Sancai's expectation, the number of 100 Jinshi has been reduced.

Sun Jigao is not sensitive to this. He is determined to be in the top 10 this year, and it doesn't matter how many people he recruits.

He just sighed and said: "It's not famous for writing articles. Officials should retire due to old age and illness."

These words have profound meaning.

Of course, it was also because the emperor's likes and dislikes were too obvious.

The previous sentence shows that everyone can see that this Jinshi does not like to socialize and give lectures.

For example, last month, Gu Xiancheng said that he wanted to introduce him to his friend Li Kun, who was taking the exam together. However, after the emperor reprimanded Zhao Zhigao, that friend had not interacted with them for half a month.

The latter sentence means that although the emperor rarely interfered in personnel affairs, recently he often interfered, either by dismissing the old man from office or promoting Jinshi in Longqing and other subjects.

Most of the young men from poor backgrounds were members of the imperialist party, so everyone couldn't help but have no ideas.

After hearing Sun Jigao's words, the two of them were silent for a moment, and unanimously agreed: "That is indeed the best in Jinke!"

What if in the next term, the emperor is already in charge and there is no place for him?

Who knows how long those like Zheng Zongxue, who are in their twenties, and those like Wang Jiaping and Li Zaiting, who are in their early thirties, can occupy the trap.

The three of them chatted and finished lighting incense.

He originally wanted to go back home, but on a whim, Li Sancai also said that he wanted to get a talisman from Yuan Shen Taoist - even though he was here, he would rather believe that he had it.

The middle-aged Taoist is naturally happy to see the success and will lead the way.

The other two people did not know each other, but Li Sancai had to take good care of him. His father, Li Xun, was a member of the household department of the sixth rank, Wailang.

This is a high-ranking official! His immediate superior at Zhenwu Guan, Daolu Si Zuozheng, is only a sixth-rank official.

Seeing this, Gu Xiancheng and Sun Jigao shook their heads helplessly and followed quickly.

The place where amulets are handed out is at the front door.

The three of them followed the middle-aged Taoist through the side hall and headed towards the front hall.

But when I was halfway there, I suddenly heard a loud sound in the hall.

The three of them stopped in unison and walked over to see what was going on.

I saw more than twenty futons in the side hall, and some half-grown men were sitting on each side, listening attentively to the words in front of them.

In front of everyone, there was a young woman wearing Kun Dao clothing, standing next to a polished stone slab, writing some strange symbols with ink carbon.

"Then, we will round the calculated area of ​​the figure to an integer."

"Finally fill in the form and sort and compare."

Gu Xiancheng looked inside curiously and was about to speak to Li Sancai.

The latter raised his lips to stop Gu Xiancheng.

Then Li Sancai lowered his voice and said: "Don't disturb her yet. This woman is a tigress. She will hit someone if she is disturbed from her business."

He paused and then added: "He grew up in the same alley as me, the family tradition of Qin Tianjian."

Family tradition means hereditary.

There were few female officials in the imperial court.

Leaving aside the Jiaofang Division and Luan Jia Division, which are suitable for female officials, Qintian Prison also occasionally has female officials - this is the prerogative of the technical monopoly department, who allows Taoists to teach Feng Shui and the study of astrology, regardless of Dao or Kun Dao.

After saying that, Li Sancai took Gu Xiancheng and Sun Jigao and quietly retreated.

Sun Jigao looked back strangely again, and after walking out, he asked the Taoist next to him who was smiling and silent: "Taoist, is this the teachings of Zhenwu Temple?"

That is a private school that has not been registered and committed a crime.

The Taoist shook his head and explained with a smile: "That's not true. This is a new school of the imperial court, jointly established by Qin Tianjian and the Ministry of Household Affairs."

"It just so happens that the people trust the major Taoist temples and are willing to put their children here to study, so they borrowed our venue."

Li Sancai also looked at the Taoist out of curiosity and asked, "Are you talking about arithmetic?"

The Taoist nodded, then shook his head: "Today is arithmetic, and other times there will be classes on literacy, farming, writing, etc."
To be continued...