The custom of Dayue is that the whole family worships the ancestors on the first day of the Lunar New Year, and the bride returns to Ning in the second day of the Lunar New Year, that is, the newly married daughter returns to her parents' home to pay homage. It is not until the third day of the Lunar New Year that friends or superiors and subordinates visit each other.

As a time traveler, Li Ling naturally followed the customs and rested at home on the first two days of the New Year. He took Yue'er out for a walk until early on the fourth day of the lunar month to greet friends in Xu Cang, Gu Yuezi, and then asked Gu Yuezi for two sets of the first six volumes of the novel "The Legend of the Gods" from Gu Yuezi.

Speaking of which, just before the New Year, Gu Yuezi had already communicated with the bookstore in Fucheng and was preparing to try to sell a complete set of Fengshen in Fucheng. However, because the profit distribution has not been agreed, it has not been completely decided. This time, Li Ling came to pay New Year's greetings, and he couldn't help asking about the writing progress of the last volume.

Li Ling could only promise to deliver the whole book shortly after the New Year, and then after having lunch at the Gu family, he left Yue'er there and went straight to the county government. Giving New Year greetings to his immediate superior, Wei County Magistrate, is the focus of today's outing.

At this time, the county yard was naturally deserted. All officials and servants were spending the New Year at home, so the main entrance could not be entered, so Li Ling could only detour the back door. The back door, which was connected to the county magistrate's daily life, only called the door, and the closed courtyard gate was opened. It was Ximo who came to hear the sound and looked at Li Ling in surprise: "Young Master Li is lucky in the new year, why are you here?"

"You are happy New Year, of course I am here to wish you a happy New Year. Can he be in the yamen today?" Li Ling replied with a smile, and raised the New Year gift in his hand. Xi Mo hesitated for a moment, and nodded and said, "Of course, the young master is here, I will guide you." As he said that, he made a gesture of invitation.

At this time, Wei Liang was reading a book in the study. When he heard the movement, he saw that Li Ling followed Xi Mo and immediately smiled and came out: "Li Ling, you are interested..." Then his eyes turned to the two big and small packages that Li Ling held, and his face slightly darkened.

Li Ling bowed his hand from afar and said, "I am here to congratulate you on your smooth sailing in the New Year and good health."

"You are also lucky in the New Year, come into the house and talk." Wei Liang's joy was gone, and he invited the person into the study with a little coldness. As soon as Li Ling sat down, he clicked the package on the table and said, "I am still very happy that you can come to greet me, but there is no need to send these things. I will take them back later."

"Uh..." Li Ling was also stunned. He didn't expect that this person was so upright and refused to accept New Year's Day gifts. But he did not nod immediately, but just smiled and took the larger package, and said while untiing: "My lord is indeed Qingming, but my gift is just a little careless. It's really not considered a bribery. I wrote and published novels myself. Thinking that I have some leisure time during the Chinese New Year, I sent it to you and Master Cao for some fun."

While he was talking, he had already opened his bag and revealed the stack of more than ten novels inside. Xi Mo, who was serving tea to him, glanced at him and exclaimed softly: "Oh, the Romance of the Gods..."

"Hmm?" Wei Zhixian, who had a gloomy face, was also stunned. When he looked at the things in the big package, he was indeed the most ordinary novel of the Gods. But at this time his attention turned to another point, and looked at Li Ling curiously and said, "What did you say? Did you write this book? That Xiaoyaozi is you?"

"That's right." Li Ling nodded with a smile: "Have you seen this work?"

"Oh, I thought Xiaoyaozi was an old man with a white beard. I didn't expect that it was Mr. Li. Are the gods written in your book real?" Ximo was already shining with his eyes, staring at Li Ling like an idol, and even putting the rules of being a servant behind him. Obviously, he was a loyal fan of the Book of Conquering the Gods.

"Of course all the things in the book are fake, at least I have never seen any gods." Li Ling replied, looking at Wei Liang again, "This is just a game work before Bei Zhi, just to make some money to pay off his own debts, and then let his sister live a better life with him."

"I have read some of this God of Congregation. Although the writing style is not good, the content is wonderful. You can read it once. I don't expect it to be written by you." Wei Liang calmed down at this time and smiled, "It's because Ximo is very interested in this book. Mr. Cao praised it even after reading it..."

"My lord is a mischievous person, and I am ashamed of my humble duty. If you don't dislike me, please accept these two sets of books. One set is for you, and the other set is given to Mr. Cao. By the way, where is Mr. Cao?"

"Mr. Cao is from Huaibei. After the Chinese New Year is gone, I will let him go home and stay for a few days." As he said that, he nodded again, "Since this is your wish, I will accept it today." As he spoke, he looked at Xi Mo next to him again, who looked happy, obviously because he had wanted this novel for a long time.

Li Ling also laughed. Giving gifts to his boss is something that has always been a headache for Chinese people, especially those in the officialdom. After all, it is not good to be light or heavy, and it also conforms to the character and identity of both parties. He thought a lot before, and finally decided to send his novels directly as gifts. This is both elegant and can also give face. The key is that no matter how honest the other party is, he will not refuse such gifts.

By the way, this trend has actually been everywhere in later generations. Those who have achieved some success will always think about publishing a book, memoirs, and diaries from the past... and then go to publish it at your own expense and then give it to others everywhere, which is also a way of art.

However, Li Ling's behavior of delivering books is much more advanced than that of them. After all, his book is a bestseller, and others have to pay to buy it if they want to read it.

After untiing this knot, Wei Liang's attitude towards Li Ling became much more friendly. After a few gossips, he turned to the novel: "The Congregation of Gods is of course interesting and can also make you more money, but if you really want to take the imperial examination, I think it's better not to put too much attention on it. Although I have never written a novel, I also know that it is a time-consuming matter. Compared with the two, the imperial examination is your lifelong event."

"Thank you for your advice. I have already thought about it. I will finish the last volume during this Chinese New Year. After all, I have to do things at the beginning and end, and then I will focus on the imperial examination and official duties in the county government."

"Ah... I'm going to finish writing this? I'm not satisfied yet." Ximo murmured from the side, which caused Wei Liang to glar unhappily, and then turned around and said, "It's best if you can think like this, after all, matters are prioritized."

"When I mentioned the imperial examination, there are a few new works of the time here. Please give me some advice." Li Ling took the opportunity to open the small package, took out a few stacks of books and handed them respectfully. This was also one of his purpose of visiting today.

Wei Liang was curious about what was in his small package, but he only laughed relievedly and had a better attitude: "Take it to me. Since I have promised you that you will give more advice on the imperial examination, you will not regret it." While speaking, he had taken the five or six articles and read it carefully.

It took more than half an hour before Wei Liang raised his head and looked at Li Ling for a while and said, "You have been acquainted with reading classics for a while, but you have not received guidance from famous teachers, right?"

"Well. Because my family is in a bad state, I actually read and write books with my father. But to be ashamed, he was unable to pass the scholar exam, but he just studied it behind closed doors."

"Well, no wonder your article looks solid, but it lacks some high-level and insightful ideas. This makes the whole article look too boring and hard to be considered top-notch."

"So, it's probably difficult for me to take the imperial examination road?" Li Ling felt a little disappointed. He felt that these articles had been written quite well, at least much better than what he wrote randomly some time ago and what the original owner did earlier, but in the end, Wei Liang's eyes, he had only a boring evaluation.

But this is also because he was concerned about the other party's identity. He was a master of imperial examination in Tanhua, a high school student. How could he compare his vision and strength?

Seeing Li Ling's face full of loss, Wei Liang raised some words to comfort him: "You don't have to be too discouraged. After all, this imperial examination is different from writing poetry. Talent is important, but the foundation is even more rare. I can see that your foundation for scriptures is still very good. As long as you improve some details and themes, there should be no big problem in passing the exam for scholars."

Where is this? Why do you say that my article is not very good? Now you say that it is not difficult to pass the scholar? Li Ling grinned and had to say, "Please make it clear."

"Well, so now, there are two months left before the county examination. I will give you a topic every day. You will go back to write an essay and read it the next day. Then remember to use more allusions in the article, and then use the words of the saints based on some stories of this dynasty. As long as you can fully integrate these things, at least one scholar's fame will not be eliminated." Wei Liang proposed his own solution.

Li Ling was bitter. If it were other dynasties, he might have some ideas. After all, there were channels for popularization of history in later generations, and he had seen some. But the current Dayue Dynasty is not included, and he has no more things to see in a small county in Jiangcheng. It is really impossible to meet the other party's requirements.

Wei Liang saw that he was embarrassed and was stunned at first. He soon thought of the whole story and said with a smile: "Let's do this, I have several records of major events since the founding of this dynasty, as well as some of my daily thoughts. You can read them carefully and then apply them to your own articles, and you will surely make progress."
Chapter completed!