Top Scholar

Chapter 342 The Road to the Examination
The journey from Luzhou to Chengdu is a total of 500 li (approximately 250 kilometers), and there are post roads along the entire route.

According to regulations, there was a post station every sixty li along the official roads of the Ming Dynasty, which meant that one stop was visited every day.

Su Lu's group consisted of forty or fifty people, including scholars on their way to the imperial examinations, pageboys, and guards—quite a large group. It was already quite impressive that they covered one stop in a day.

After leaving the city through the Aijin Gate, they traveled north along the Baolian Street post road.

On the wide road, merchants on mules and horses, peddlers carrying loads, and fellow examinees traveling together came and went in an endless stream. Teahouses, restaurants, general stores, and carriage shops lined both sides of the road.

Upon seeing travelers heading north, the carriage shop assistants would shout out their business: "Mule carts go directly to Laijie Post Station, twenty coins, saving you time and effort!"

"But it'll hurt your butt!" Li Qiyu said in a strange tone. Anyway, they outnumbered each other and had officials with them, so they weren't worried about getting beaten up no matter how shameless they were.

After traveling for about an hour, we arrived at Tucaokou, a dock on a tributary of the Tuojiang River. On the ferry, the boatman was calling out to ferry passengers across.

Unfortunately, despite calling for a long time, Su Lu and the others did not board the boat, because they did not need to cross the river; they were just waiting for someone.

After waiting for about half an hour, Xu Chengye and Xiao Tingjie finally arrived on horseback.

"Sorry everyone, we've kept you waiting." The two men tumbled off their horses, covered in dust, and apologized while rubbing their thighs.

“You’ve come fast enough,” Su Lu said with a smile. “Especially Ji Zu, your family is in Jiang’an, yet you still managed to get here so early.”

"I was afraid of causing delays, so I rushed to Naxi last night to meet up with Brother Yuangong." Xu Chengye said with a smile, "We set off as soon as the city gates opened today, originally hoping to get ahead of you."

"Even though we rushed, we still arrived late," Xiao Tingjie said with a smile.

“That’s normal, we’re thirty li behind,” Su Lu laughed. “Why don’t you rest for a bit before we set off again?”

"No, no, let's rest at noon." The two said in unison. During their time in Longchang, they not only learned a lot, but also developed a strong ability to endure hardship.

"Alright, let's go to Gaoshanpu for lunch then," Su Lu said.

"Let's go!" The group emerged from the shaded areas and continued their journey along the post road.

~~
Around noon, we finally arrived at Gaoshanpu.

The "pu" in "pudi" refers to the courier post station. Both were part of the Ming Dynasty's official postal system, but their functions differed: one delivered documents, the other people.

Compared to well-equipped post stations, express delivery stations were much simpler, usually consisting of only a small hut, a few fast horses, and three or five deliverymen.

However, due to its superior location, Gaoshanpu became the first choice for travelers to rest. Everyone then saw a century-old banyan tree next to the express delivery station, with its canopy providing shade. Under the tree were tea stalls and restaurants, all set up by the surrounding villagers.

The men sat down to rest at a tea stall under the tree, and the tea owner quickly served them bowls of jasmine tea. Although it wasn't the finest tea, it was fragrant and thirst-quenching, especially suitable for travelers.

The owner of the nearby restaurant brought over several plates of white cakes, smiling and inviting the gentlemen to try them.

Su Lu picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. The soft and sticky rice aroma mixed with the sweetness was delicious, but it made his stomach rumble.

However, instead of ordering food, everyone took out the food they had prepared at home, laid out a table full of food, and shared it.

July is scorching hot, but it's still unbearably hot. A lot of food won't last overnight, so we need to eat it all quickly.

After eating and drinking their fill, the group rested for an hour at the tea stall to escape the heat. Since they weren't studying, a nap was fine... The teachings of the school emphasize treating specific situations with specific solutions and oppose absolutism beyond major principles of right and wrong.

Once the sun was no longer so scorching, the group continued their journey.

Actually, it was still quite hot, but fortunately, the trees on both sides of the post road provided some shade, so walking in the shade could help block out some of the heat.

After walking for half an hour, the sun began to set further away, and the weather finally cooled down.

From afar, everyone could see a long bridge spanning the winding river ahead, its bluish-gray body reflected in the water like a reclining dragon.

"That's the Longnao Bridge, built during the Hongwu era." Wang Bantou travels to the provincial capital many times a year and knows the road conditions like the back of his hand. He smiled at the crowd and said, "Gentlemen, you can go and try your luck. Touch the dragon's head, and you'll win the grand prize!"

"Alright!" Faced with the provincial examination where only one out of twenty-five candidates could pass, the gentlemen would not miss the opportunity to add 'good fortune' to their fathers' lives.

Only when you get closer can you see clearly that on the twelve piers of the bridge, four are carved with stone dragons, and the rest are carved with qilin, green lions and elephants, each one lifelike.

The stone dragon held its head high and tail high, looking majestic; its head had been rubbed smooth and polished...

The men then swarmed around the dragon head and touched it thoroughly.

"I touch, I touch, I touch, touch, touch!" Li Qiyu had already touched all four dragon heads, and then went to touch the lion's head and the qilin's head.

“Don’t touch them like that!” Cheng Wanfan shouted. “Touching a lion or a qilin means you’re about to die.”

In the local dialect of southern Sichuan, the retroflex consonant "lion" is pronounced as the alveolar consonant "si"...

"Huh?" Li Qiyu was so startled that he quickly raised his hands and whispered, "What should I do if I think I touched it?"

"Don't listen to him," Su Lu said with a smile, comforting Li Qiyu. "This is called 'thoughts flowing like a spring,' and 'the unicorn bringing good news.'"

"Waaah, my godfather is the best..." Li Qiyu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Then let's touch the elephant too, so that our wishes will come true," Su Lu said with a smile.

"Touch, touch, touch, I'll touch them all." Li Qiyu nodded repeatedly.
After crossing the Longnao Bridge, as the sun began to set, the group finally arrived at their destination for the day—Laijie Post Station.

The post station is located next to the Jiuqu River, and its wooden pavilions are particularly elegant in the sunset.

To the scholars' delight, they actually saw Steward Tian from the Su family.

"Gentlemen, you must be tired from your journey." Steward Tian smiled and bowed slightly, inviting them to come in and rest.

"Uncle Tian, ​​what are you doing here?" Lin Zhihong, Qiao Feng, and others who had stayed at the county government office were naturally very familiar with Steward Tian.

"I set off yesterday to pave the way for you gentlemen," Steward Tian said with a smile.

"We are truly grateful to Uncle Tian." The scholars exclaimed with delight, "Our senior brother has made such a thoughtful arrangement."

Upon entering the post station, Steward Tian ordered his men to lead the mules and horses to the stables to be fed, while he led the gentlemen to the guest rooms in the back courtyard.

"There are too many gentlemen on their way to take the imperial examinations, and the post station only has a few rooms left. Gentlemen, please make do with yourselves."

"It's good enough to have a place to sleep," the scholars said contentedly.

Upon entering the guest room, everyone was delighted to find that it had been cleaned and ventilated, and that the willows along the Jiuqu River could be seen from the window.

“This is even better than the place we stayed at Longchang Post Station,” Baiyunshan said happily.

Su Lu chuckled upon hearing this. For these young masters, Longchang Post Station was already the worst possible condition they could imagine.

Moreover, it's the second-generation Longchang Post Station after its renovation...

At this moment, Steward Tian brought hot water with his men and placed several wooden basins beside the bed. While adding water, he said, "Quickly soak your feet to relieve fatigue, otherwise you won't be able to walk tomorrow."

"Good, good, good." The scholars quickly took off their shoes and socks and put their feet into the wooden basin to soak.

Good grief, the fresh scent in the guest room vanished instantly, replaced by a smoky, pungent smell that stung my eyes...

"Wow, your feet smell awful!"

"Your feet still smell sweet after a day of traveling?"

"Even that doesn't stink as much as you..."

After soaking their feet, the students felt much less tired, and their stomachs started rumbling again.

"I've prepared cured pork rice for you gentlemen, along with local pickled cabbage and tofu soup. It's very satisfying," Steward Tian said with a smile. His servants then brought up two large vats and a basket of bowls and chopsticks.

The scholars sat in a row on the stone steps in front of their guest rooms, each with a bowl of rice and a bowl of soup. The salty aroma of the cured pork rice combined with the fresh and sour taste of the tofu soup made them very satisfied, finding it incredibly delicious.

"This rice and soup are absolutely delicious. Even my family's chef might not be able to cook this well," Deng Dengying exclaimed in amazement. "The cooks at the post station are truly remarkable."

"This wasn't made at the post station; it's the work of our Chef Hu," Su Lu said with a smile. "Just eat it all; you won't make a sound."

"Chef Hu is here too?" Everyone exclaimed in surprise, "No wonder he makes such a simple meal so delicious."

"Yes." Steward Tian nodded and said, "Old Hu has to rush to the next stop to buy ingredients, so he can't cook more dishes for the gentlemen. This is the simplest way."

"This is already very good!" Even Bai Yunshan, such a picky young master, praised it highly: "Being able to eat such a comfortable and hot meal makes me feel like all the fatigue of the day has been digested."

"That's right, that's right." Everyone nodded in agreement, saying, "It's just that you two have worked too hard."

“Our young master said that the gentlemen have been traveling all day and are very tired, so they must eat their fill and be well-fed.” Steward Tian naturally wouldn’t overstep his bounds.

"Our senior brother is becoming more and more like a loving father," the classmates said, moved and flattering. "Our parents gave us life, but our senior brother raised us!"

"Sigh, what a loss." Su Lu took a sip of tofu soup and sighed, "If I had known, I wouldn't have become some kind of senior brother."

"No, no," the classmates laughed. "Our godfather is the founding senior brother of our sect. No one would dare to covet your position."

"Don't give me that..." Su Lu laughed and scolded.

Actually, now that his family is well-off, he's happy to be generous.

After dinner, everyone took out their books and read for a while. But they had to travel the next day and needed to get going before the summer heat got too intense, so they could only read for a little while and went to bed early.

As night deepened, the post road fell completely silent, with only the murmuring of the Jiuqu River outside the window lulling the scholars to sleep.

Su Lu was already used to it, falling asleep to the smell of sweaty feet and snoring. He slept very soundly that night...

~~
The next day at dawn, when the sky and earth were still pitch black, the lights in the post station were lit.

"Get up, get up, have breakfast and get going." The scholars called to each other, yawning as they got up.

As soon as the scholars stepped out of their rooms, the cool air hit them, instantly lifting their spirits.

"It's really cool here! It's much more comfortable to travel like this!" Without further delay, the group quickly washed up, ate breakfast, and continued their journey in the dim light of dawn.

P.S. I'll revise this later, please vote with your monthly tickets!
(End of this chapter)