Chapter 2

In front of the house is a river, and behind it is a mountain. The Liu family’s residence is located at the eastern end of Xibayi Village, which itself is situated by a rice field between a mountain and a river. The village, nestled against the mountain and beside the water, guards the ferry crossing of the county river, forming a considerable market. Xibayi Village is thus also known as Xibayi Market or Xibayi Town, with a cross-shaped street lined with shops on both sides.

With such conditions, most of the residents of Xibayi Village have a decent living. The sky was still dark, and the morning breeze was cold. Liu Jun slowly paced around the drying ground in front of the Liu family’s house, digesting the countless and chaotic memories he had received from the night before. He had traveled through time, though it seemed unbelievable, it was indeed the case.

It was neither a reality show, a dream, nor a prank. Everything happened because he had held a bronze mirror last night, looking at himself for a long time. Although the image was somewhat blurry, it still made him realize that this was not him. Or rather, he was no longer the same person he used to be.

Liu Jun was a post-80s individual, born into a poor farming family in southern Jiang. His earliest memories were of poverty. Apart from having enough to eat, he often wore patched clothes, mostly hand-me-downs from his cousins. His mother was bedridden for a long time, and the area by the river often flooded, with nine out of ten years seeing major floods. When the floods came, not only were the fields submerged, but the houses were also inundated, forcing the family to move to the high ground at the village entrance.

His most vivid memory was of his father often riding a broken bicycle to borrow money from relatives, sometimes for a few hundred yuan for school fees or medical expenses, having to visit all the relatives to gather enough money.

Liu Jun barely finished high school and did not continue his studies, although he had been admitted to an ordinary university at the time. However, his family could not afford it. His sister, who had excellent grades after graduating from junior high school, chose to attend a teacher training school to reduce the number of years of study and to earn money as a teacher after graduation.

After graduating from high school, he joined the military and served for seven years. After the new recruit training, he was assigned to a company and took care of the company commander's child for two years. Then he became the battalion commander's driver for three years, and later was promoted to a non-commissioned officer and served as a squad leader for two years. After that, he was unable to be promoted further and was discharged.

After being discharged, he worked as a security guard in a mall, supervised nightclubs, and even served as a bodyguard for a boss. Eventually, he started a taxi business and a waste collection station, which gradually became successful, making him a millionaire. He became a village representative and a county committee member, and was considered a notable figure in the small town. However, he met with an accident during a matchmaking event for eligible bachelors and ended up in the Ming Dynasty.

He suffered from a headache for a long time in the early hours of the morning, and then countless memories appeared in his mind, seemingly those of the original owner of this body. Liu Jun and Liu Jun (the original owner) have similar names. In his previous life, he was a 35-year-old eligible bachelor, while in this life, Liu Jun is only 20 years old, standing over six feet tall, slightly taller than his previous self, but with a strong and robust body, not the weak and frail appearance he had imagined for people of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

It was just dawn, but there were already children leading their cattle to graze, and some early-rising villagers had already returned from the fields. Some women had returned with baskets of fresh vegetables from the vegetable gardens.

As they passed by the Liu family’s house, they saw Liu Jun standing there, lost in thought, and greeted him.

"Secondy, when did you come back? We haven't seen you for a long time," the fat aunt from the west of the village greeted him with a smile, handing him a cucumber freshly picked from the garden, still with its flowers and dew.

"Just got back. The vegetables are fresh," Liu Jun replied with a smile, taking the cucumber from the fat aunt.

A while later, the village school teacher walked over, saw him, and greeted him, "Jun, you've really made it. You're now a military student at the Wu School, and you've been granted the status of a military scholar, exempt from various duties. How about it, are you planning to prepare well for the military examination and get the qualification to take the provincial examination?"

This Mr. Zhao was an old teacher at the village school, and Liu Jun had also been his student. Mr. Zhao was an old scholar who, unfortunately, never passed the examination to become a junior official and thus dedicated himself to teaching. Liu Jun's father, Liu Xiu, was also a scholar and taught at the village school.

When Mr. Zhao mentioned it, Liu Jun remembered that his current identity was that of a military student.

Generally, the term "student" refers to students of the prefectural, state, and county schools, which are Confucian schools. During the Ming Dynasty, the imperial examination system was combined with the school system. The prefectural, state, and county schools were official schools, and not everyone could attend them. One had to pass the examination to become a scholar before entering the school. Moreover, the prefectural, state, and county schools were not hierarchical; scholars did not have to progress from the county school to the state school and then to the prefectural school. They were parallel, and generally, scholars would remain in the official schools for life, except for those who passed the examination to become junior officials or were recommended to the imperial academy.

Of course, being a scholar was not a lifelong status. They had to participate in monthly and quarterly examinations, as well as annual examinations organized by the educational administration. In particular, the annual examination was divided into six grades. If a scholar received the sixth grade, they would lose their status as a scholar.

Liu Xiu, Liu Jun's father, was an old scholar and a scholar with a stipend, receiving six dou of rice monthly. However, he usually just had his name on the school's roster and only returned to the school for the monthly, quarterly, and annual examinations. He could have his own job and did not need to stay at the school.

Liu Jun, as a military student, was a student of the military school, but not a military scholar. During the Ming Dynasty, although there were military examinations, they were not held regularly and only included the provincial and metropolitan examinations. Therefore, there were military junior officials and military senior officials, but no military scholars or military students. Even until the fourth year of the Chongzhen era, there were no military imperial examinations or military top scholars. It was only in the fourth year of the Chongzhen era that the imperial examination for military top scholars was established.

However, during the period when the court was vigorously promoting Confucian schools, military schools were also established in the two capitals and various military garrisons to admit young military officers and the young heirs of hereditary military officers.

Military students had the right to participate in the military examination, which, like the literary examination, was a qualifying examination for the provincial examination.

The number of students in the Ming Dynasty, both literary and military, was very large, but the number of participants in the provincial examination was limited. The number of participants in the provincial examination for literary students in each province was about 4,000 to 5,000, while the number of participants in the provincial examination for military students was only about 1,000.

However, the number of scholars in the Ming Dynasty had already reached over 600,000, so a qualifying examination had to be held before the provincial examination to determine the number of participants. Only those who ranked in the top two or the top five in the third grade could participate in the provincial examination that year.

Out of the 600,000 scholars, only about 20,000 had the right to participate in the provincial examination to compete for about 2,000 junior official positions. In the final metropolitan examination, about 4,000 to 5,000 junior officials competed for about 300 senior official positions, and then the 300 senior officials competed for about a dozen positions as imperial scholars.

The pass rate for the military examination was slightly higher, but it was still one in a hundred.

Liu Jun was now a military student at the Huangzhou Wu School, and this year was the year of the provincial examination, with the metropolitan examination next year. The qualifying examination for the provincial examination was about to begin, and Mr. Zhao assumed that Liu Jun had returned from the prefectural city to prepare.

Liu Jun smiled slightly, neither confirming nor denying.

In reality, although he had inherited many of Liu Jun's memories, they were only partial, and he was still somewhat disoriented. Participating in the Ming Dynasty's imperial examination, even the military examination, seemed too absurd. According to the memories he had, the military examination in the Ming Dynasty was still primarily a literary examination, and even the military metropolitan examination had a special rule that the examination of strategy and theory had to be passed first. If the results were unsatisfactory, one would not even be qualified to take the examination for archery and horsemanship.

Letting him take an ancient examination on military strategy, formations, and various military books and tactics would be too much to ask. Fortunately, the Liu family's financial situation was not too bad. At least he did not wake up to find himself in a destitute family with nothing to eat.

As a military student, although not a scholar, he still had the status of a student, enjoying the same treatment as a scholar, such as not having to kneel before officials and being exempt from two labor duties for his household.

"Brother, it's time to eat," Bao'er called from the front door.

The maid calling the young master "brother" made Liu Jun feel a bit strange.

At first, he thought the girl was his sister.

However, after integrating Liu Jun's memories, he learned that in the Ming Dynasty, ordinary people were not allowed to own slaves, similar to how they were not allowed to wear boots or silk. However, this gradually changed.

If ordinary people were not allowed to own slaves, they would simply change the name and keep them as adopted children. They would still sign a contract, but instead of being slaves, they would be adopted children. Since they were called adopted children, their titles in the household would also change.

The maids and servants would call the masters "father," the mistresses "mother," the young masters "brother," and the young ladies "sister."

It was just a matter of getting used to it, Liu Jun told himself, and then waved to indicate that he had heard, slowly walking towards the house.

The morning of May was cool and pleasant. The Liu family's old house, with its green tiles and blue bricks, stood by the northern bank of the county river. It had a three-room facade, consisting of a front hall, a courtyard, and a back hall.

The main gate was adorned with a stone plaque bearing the Liu family name, and the door frame was carved with the Eight Immortals paying homage to the Buddha.

The Liu family's residence was enclosed by high walls, with horse-head gables and a white-washed, black-tiled roof, reflecting the architectural style of the Ming and Qing dynasties in Jingchu. The exterior was made of blue bricks, with brick carvings and wooden columns. Various colorful paintings, including the Eight Immortals, auspicious grass, landscapes, and a hundred birds, added to the beauty of the building.

The residence exuded a sense of elegance and refinement, not the typical appearance of a rural landlord, but a low-key and cultured elegance.

The entrance hall had a carved door and a screen with lattice windows.

On both sides of the courtyard, the walls of the side rooms were adorned with lifelike lion heads, showing great craftsmanship.

The eaves around the courtyard were supported by hanging columns, carved with lions, elephants, and qilins, and the bases were carved with flower baskets and lanterns. The spaces between the columns were decorated with mythological and theatrical stories and intricate flower screens, making the building both luxurious and elegant. The second floor had a "beauty's seat."

The back hall had a goose-neck pavilion, a square ceiling, a如意轩 (Ruyi Pavilion), and various historical and legendary carvings, making it a place of great interest.

The interior of the hall was spacious and bright, leaving Liu Jun feeling as if he had stepped into a different era.

About twenty steps in front of the Liu family's main gate stood a large green elm tree, about six to seven zhang (about 20 to 23 feet) tall, with a trunk that required two or three people to encircle it. The lush canopy spread out to about eight zhang (about 26 feet).

Under the tree, there were three large stone grinding disks, each with a circumference of about two zhang (about 6.6 feet) and a diameter of nearly six feet, and a thickness of nearly two feet. The stone rollers stood beside the grinding disks.

Just by looking at the Liu family's residence, one could tell that the Liu family was well-off. The family had two students, one literary and one military, and owned a house and about a hundred acres of land, which were leased to tenant farmers. The Liu family did not farm the land themselves but collected rent regularly.

However, in Xibayi Market, the Liu family was only considered a middle-class family. The market had over a thousand households, and many landlords and wealthy merchants had assets worth tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of silver taels.

As soon as Liu Jun entered the house, he saw his five-year-old nephew, Liu Hong, standing in front of a young woman in the courtyard, reciting, "All things are established by preparation, and without preparation, they fail. If words are prepared, they will not be stumbled, if actions are prepared, they will... they will... not..."

The young woman, wearing a narrow-sleeved silk robe and a fitted pleated skirt, was slender and well-proportioned, exuding a mature charm. She had a long, oval face, with willow-like eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes, and a small cherry mouth. Her black hair was styled in a falling horse bun on one side of her head. When she heard that Liu Hong could not continue, her almond eyes widened, "If you don't come out, you won't be allowed to play today. You are always so playful and lack ambition."

"Big sister, Hong is still young. Don't be too strict. At this age, reading the Hundred Family Surnames and the Thousand Character Classic is enough. Making him read the Analects is already strict, let alone the Book of Rites and the Doctrine of the Mean," Liu Jun said with a smile as he approached the beautiful young woman.

"Ah, you all, always spoiling him. He becomes even more unmotivated," the young woman said with a thin pout, glaring at Liu Jun and then continued, "And you, being so grown up, rarely come home these days. As soon as you return, you immediately drink with your old friends until you're drunk, without caring about your health. Even if the alcohol is free, your body is your own. How are you feeling now?"

"Much better," Liu Jun replied, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the beautiful sister-in-law's concern, and quickly walked inside.

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