At dusk, the walls of Anyi County were shrouded in the sunset, dyed into a golden color.

The middle-aged man stood outside the city, looking up at the color stained by the sunset above the city wall, and the light seemed to appear in the children's hole.

He was carrying a bag, dust on his body, his face was tired, but his eyes were light.

The bags are made of bamboo. Because of the long-term use, not only does there be patina on the outside, but there are also some places that are not known to be worn or bitten by mice, and they are slightly broken.

In order to prevent the small items in the bamboo basket from falling while walking, there is a coarse cloth bag inside the bamboo basket. It may have been in black color, but because it has been washed a lot, it is now a bit gray and white, which looks very similar to those deliberately old colors in later generations.

He arrived at Anyi County two days in advance.

His body was stained with dust and grass, but his face was filled with a slight smile.

As an important town in Hedong, Anyi is close to Pingyang and serves as a transportation hub. People come and go, cars and horses flowing endlessly.

The middle-aged man slowly entered the Anyi County town along the flow of people.

Nowadays, under the cavalry, the world is peaceful and the world is peaceful, but the number of intellectuals, or those who are similar to those of intellectuals in later generations, has not increased much.

Perhaps according to most people's concepts, the current productivity, technical level and total production materials are greater than those in Shandong, so the number of intellectuals should be more than in Shandong.

But in reality, this is not the case.

Some people may also say how long the cavalry has been in power in Guanzhong for now and has not formed effective accumulation. Unfortunately, this may be a factor, but not the biggest reason.

What exactly is knowledge?

What is the difference between ordinary people and talented people?

The progress of civilization with the improvement of productivity, why did ancient knowledge monopoly still appear in modern times?

These are all very interesting questions.

Human knowledge progress will not improve with the development of productivity.

This is almost a major issue that runs through the entire feudal society and even affects later generations.

Normally, social progress and productivity development require more talents with higher knowledge reserves, but the fact is that even in later generations, there are still many people who do not have some basic knowledge.

A social survey in later generations stated that among the more than 20,000 Americans who participated in the survey, nearly one-quarter believed that the sun revolves around the earth. Among the nine basic common sense questions, only 6.5% of the total number of people participating in the survey were correct. Regardless of whether the candidates in this survey project were carefully screened, the relevant questions should have been popularized when eliminating illiteracy. At the same time, according to the principle, the biggest obstacle to obtaining knowledge in ancient times was that there were few ways to obtain knowledge and it was not easy. The modern acquisition of knowledge is obviously more convenient than in ancient times. But why are there still some modern people not knowing some common sense knowledge?

There is no need to pay any fees to enter the city. Shortly after the Cavalry ruled Hedong, the tax on entering the city was cancelled.

Although there is not much tax for entering the city every time, most of the previous taxes for entering the city were one five-bah per person, and the vehicle was calculated separately. No matter how long you stay in the city, everyone has to pay for it. There is no limit on how long you stay in the city. There is no need to pay for it if you leave the city gate, no matter whether you walk a mile or a step, you have to pay another fee if you want to enter the city.

It seems very cheap, but it is indeed inexpensive, but it depends on who it is.

For the children of the gentry, a Wuzhu coin would not even look at it even if it fell to the ground. One glance would represent the price drop. It was like the story of whether to bend down to pick up a dollar, then turn it to ten yuan, and then reach one hundred yuan.

But for ordinary people, perhaps a five-zhu coin is one-tenth of his income after he worked hard to cut firewood for a day.

Middle-aged people cannot be considered absolutely poor because they can afford to study and borrow money. But they cannot be considered rich, they can only be considered poor families. They are inferior to middle-aged poor families. There is a piece of land, a room, a wife, a son and parents.

At dusk, the city of Anyi is still bustling with bustling streets and alleys paved with bluestone roads, and shops on both sides of the streets and bustling pedestrians are buying all kinds of miscellaneous items while the sky is not yet dark.

When middle-aged people turned to the side street, the traffic volume dropped a lot.

The prices of large inns on the main street are very high, and they cannot be bargained. After all, there are many people who stay there, and the small inns on the side street are much better. Not only can they bargain, but they can even provide free hot soup. Of course, if you give two more, you can also get a portion of early dried rice. Although it is not very good, it is a little more cost-effective than going to the market alone to eat.

As for the decoration equipment in the room, of course, the small inn cannot compare with the large inn, but for middle-aged people, this is not important at all. What is important is that he can settle in the city at a relatively low cost, take a good rest for a day, and then go to reference early the day after tomorrow, instead of finding a place to register tomorrow...

Becoming older, a little calmer, some life experiences.

The middle-aged man carried his luggage and walked into an inn with a small storefront, but he didn't expect that there were actually many people holding similar thoughts to him. There were not many rooms left in the inn, so naturally there was no room to choose.

The middle-aged man found a relatively better lighting room, so he lived there.

The room was very simple, with a bed, a mat, and a table. There was a simple screen in one corner of the room. The screen was naturally a toilet. The toilet was old. Although it had been washed, it still had a stinky smell, but it seemed to be much better than the one I used at home.

Because I was so tired after walking all day, the middle-aged man paid the room fee and ordered another bean plate of pickled vegetables and two steamed buns, accompanied by the sour water from the shopkeeper. After eating, he washed up and went to bed to sleep.

The next morning, when the sky was filled with a faint morning light, the middle-aged man woke up, and then sat on the bed for a while before he realized that he was in the inn, not at home.

The habit of working in and out of the sunrise for many years has made him not know the taste of sleeping in for many years.

The middle-aged man stood up, went out, called a piece of early jelly in the inn, and then he didn't go out all day long, so he sharpened his gun at the end of the battle. After so many years, he touched the hoe and the wooden shovel, and his hands were thicker. He had to review the strokes again, otherwise if he picked up the pen and forgot the words, it would be all over.

However, the small inn was simply calm. When the middle-aged man came back after signing up, he was disturbed by the lake.

First, people shouted one after another, asking if there were any remaining rooms. Even if the shopkeeper asked someone to hang out the full sign early, it still didn't work. These people might have seen it, or maybe they didn't see it, but they still shouted, as if this would give you more hope in the guest room.

However, the capacity of the small inn is only a little. At the beginning, middle-aged people couldn't help but be glad that they came one day in advance. However, as more and more sounds became louder and louder, middle-aged people couldn't bear it. They simply took some rags and blocked their ears, so they could get some purity and continue writing and writing.

When it was late, the middle-aged man opened the door and went out to eat again. He didn't have to pay extra meal delivery when he went to the lobby to eat. Anyway, just a few steps could save a little. But he had just walked around the corner and had not yet entered the lobby. He looked up and couldn't help but be stunned.

I saw that the lobby was almost filled with people, and the shopkeeper and the clerk stood aside with a frown, looking at a loss.

"This is..." The middle-aged man walked to the shopkeeper and signaled.

The shopkeeper smiled bitterly and whispered: "Everyone comes to take the exam, they all want to stay in a hotel... but there are only a few guest rooms... and then these people sit and stop leaving... How could there be so many? I can't say that I have to stay away at night... I can't beat you, and I can't hurry up...

This is really possible.

Are you doing business? How can you say you punch and kick customers?

Oh, it's okay to hit someone.

Other serious businessmen are all concerned about being kind and making money. Even if these students are disturbed by the reference students, the shopkeeper will not be able to gather the clerks and beat them out with a pole and a stick. After all, these people are here to take the exam, and no one knows whether one or two officials will appear here. If they are beaten by the shopkeeper at this time and hold grudges and take revenge at that time, even if there is someone behind the shopkeeper, they may not be able to protect the shopkeeper because of this matter.

It’s not that I respect scholars or something, but that even if there is a master behind the shopkeeper, I will definitely only protect the inn. As long as the inn does not fall, the shopkeeper and the shopkeeper can also recruit other people.

So the shopkeeper and the guy can only persuade him in a good manner.

But the problem is that Anyi has not held a large-scale scientific research activity before, and there are not many inns in the county on weekdays, so so many people can't stay in for a while. In addition, there are many helpers in the big inn, and there are only a dozen shopkeepers and mates in the small inn. It's not as good as the number of people sitting in the lobby now. It's really a big deal...

The middle-aged man shook his head, and it seemed that the delivery fee could not be saved, so he had to say to the guy beside him and order the meal and send it back to the room.

The guy said a few times and turned to the kitchen. The middle-aged man turned around and prepared to go back. But before he could take two steps, he was pulled over. "Brother, brother! Can you live in the inn?"

The middle-aged man stopped and turned to look at the person who came, "What's the point?"

The middle-aged man initially thought that the person who came had something to do with him, but then he forgot about it, but after looking carefully, he really didn't know him.

The visitor bowed and said, "I was named Mao in Xia, and I am from Pi County. I heard that the cavalry was trying to open the county in Hedong, so I came to refer to it."

When the middle-aged man heard this, he was sure that he really didn't know him. Because the middle-aged man had no relatives in Pi County at all. After a moment of froze, the middle-aged man returned a tribute and said, "Oh, lucky to know, lucky to know. What's the matter if I'm not satisfied?"

The middle-aged man cautiously did not say his name.

The Mao family in Pi County didn't care about this either. They grabbed the middle-aged man's hand and said, "Do you stay in a hotel here? Can you stay in a room? It takes only one night! Or you can also build a floor shop! I'm grateful for it!"

The middle-aged man was stunned, then quickly reacted and said, "I'm just here to have a meal..."

The Mao family in Pi County said oh, and the enthusiasm in their eyes soon dimmed.

The middle-aged man quickly pulled out his sleeves, turned around and left.

What a joke, it’s not about relatives or not, and then you have to live together without saying a word?

Even if there are some relationships, such as classmates and fellow townsmen, it is best to discuss in advance. There is absolutely no reason why you run to someone else’s place, or you suddenly pull someone and ask someone to give up the room...

But those who can say such words obviously do not understand any truth, or they only want to understand the truth that is beneficial to them.

The middle-aged man was older. Although he encountered such a thing for the first time, he quickly realized that there was a problem and chose a way to solve it in a way that was not too harsh with each other.

The shopkeeper and the guy next to him knew the truth, but they would not say anything specifically, let alone risk offending the guests to drive away those who had already moved in and let the people behind live.

Even if you increase the money, it won't work.

Well, at least it is impossible to add money to a certain range.

Besides, would a truly rich person come to stay in such a small inn?

So, how many people who can live in this inn will choose to add more money to the extent that both the shopkeeper and the client waver have a stance?

Obviously, if you can't add money, you can only draw big cakes.

For example, what the Mao family in Pi County said before, "The Minggan Wu is very grateful" or...

When the middle-aged man saw that the situation was not good, he quickly left before the man could react, because the middle-aged man knew that he had flaws in saying this, so he could only do it for a while, but as long as he got rid of it, there would be nothing big.

It’s not that the shopkeeper and the clerk will expose the lies of middle-aged people, but that the middle-aged people appear and leave are not outward, but inward. Those who walk inside do not live in the inn. Could it be that they are still relatives of the shopkeeper in the inn? And in such a good business, they may even clean up the woodshed and other things, so who can live in a relative?

Middle-aged people escaped early, but those who came later were not so lucky.

Perhaps it was because of the leader of the Mao family in Pi County, or perhaps because these people figured out the beauty of middle-aged people, the guests who came to the lobby to prepare for dinner were immediately surrounded by several people, some of whom were begging, some of whom were gracious, some of whom were gracious, some of whom were honest and forced to make friends...

Those who sit in the lobby will catch one and surround each other, and they will work hard for their own future. For them, if they can compete for one more point, they will be one point.

Faced with such a situation, the shopkeeper was a little confused.

The guy was also a little confused.

To be honest, because it was the first time I encountered such a thing, all the people at the top were ignorant.

When the imperial examinations were booming in later generations, it was not uncommon for those in the countryside to leave for the prefectures and counties to take the exam half a year in advance.

Later, I don’t know how many related businesses were born in various places, including guild halls, homestays and residential houses.

But that is when the imperial examinations become popular and I get used to it.

It's just the beginning, and it's only the first time Hedong has held it.

Sima Yi had worked as an examiner in Chang'an before, but he focused on preparing for the examination room. Sima Yi really didn't consider the problem of insufficient accommodation in the city. Or he considered it, but he didn't expect so many people to refer to it.
To be continued...