It was dark and unable to see, Li Pingan groped for the outline of the object in his hand, and the rough shape formed in his mind. He whispered: "Is this a silver ingot?"
"Well, this is ten taels of silver ingots." Dr. Zhu's voice was not high and his tone sounded very calm. "After observing this day, I can see that your father's words in this team carry a lot of weight, like Leader. These ten taels of silver shall be our reward for eating your food along the way."
Li Ping'an said quickly: "Doctor Zhu, you are too foreign. Since we are fleeing the famine together, then naturally we cannot drink a bowl of rice soup without you. If we are so clear about it, why should we be together? I can't accept this money. You give us money to eat food, so if one of us gets sick or injured, do you have to pay us if we ask you to help?"
As he spoke, he put the money back into Doctor Zhu's hand, but Doctor Zhu refused to take it back.
"One code, one code. I have two sons who are in their prime, and there are many young people in the team. With you, our safety is guaranteed. This is a life-saving grace. If any of you are sick and injured, then I will naturally not stand idly by. When it's time to take action, I'm bound to take action. Just don't push it. Once you get there, there will be many places where you need money."
Li Ping'an hesitated. Doctor Zhu was right. When they got there, they had too much money to spend. Not to mention building a house and buying fields. The house could be easily dealt with by building a bamboo house or thatched house. They can also rent the land for farming in the first year or two, but they will always need to buy food to survive the second half of the year. He is blind to what is going on there, but there is no guarantee that he will be able to make a living in a short time. Money and food.
But these ten taels of silver are really too much. Although silver is also a currency, theoretically one tael of silver can be exchanged for a thousand copper plates. This is the first time he has seen and touched it, but does he know that it is actually of good quality? One tael of silver can be exchanged for more than a thousand copper coins.
Ten taels of silver would normally be enough to feed their family of seven for a year. It was impossible for them to escape from famine for a year, and it was impossible for them to keep Dr. Zhu's family well-fed along the way. No matter how high the price of food was and how hard it was to buy food, they would never spend less than ten taels of silver during the period of fleeing famine.
Although he likes money, there is too much money and it feels hot to his hands.
After making up his mind, he pushed the silver ingot into Dr. Zhu's hand again, "Doctor Zhu, I really can't accept these ten taels of silver. We need money to live, and you also need money to live. Even if you insist on giving it, you can't give it that much. .”
"Can you try another one? Believe it or not, I will take my family and leave tomorrow?" Dr. Zhu glared, then slowed down and said, "You don't have to worry about us, we are familiar with you, and I trust you, so I'll tell you the truth. Well, these ten taels of silver seem to be a lot, but I can still take it out easily. You are good and smart. I give you the silver to help you. Your brothers and sisters are still so young. With these ten taels Yinzi, you can relax when you get there.”
Li Ping'an was so moved that he almost cried, "Thank you, Doctor Zhu, you are a good man."
"I don't know if I'm a good person or not. Do you still need to tell me? Hurry up, put it away and don't make any noise." Dr. Zhu wrapped his hands around Li Ping'an's hands and shook them hard. "If we can all reach the place alive, you will become my disciple." I agreed to the matter, and when the time comes, the apprenticeship ceremony must be indispensable, and there must be everything that should be done."
However, Li Ping'an accepted the money, but hesitated to become a disciple, "Doctor Zhu..."
"If you have something to say, just say it, don't talk to your mother-in-law!"
"This matter of apprenticeship..."
"You don't want to anymore?"
Li Ping'an gritted his teeth, "If there hadn't been this flood, I would definitely be willing to worship you as my teacher on the spot. But now, I may not have the time and energy to study medicine with you. Compared to studying medicine, I I would rather think about doing some small business to support my family. See if you can let my third brother Fugui and fourth brother Xinglong learn from you?"
Dr. Zhu was so angry that he laughed. He even bent down and took the initiative to accept a disciple. Li Ping'an actually refused? Even if he refused, he didn't give up this opportunity and wanted his two younger brothers to take over.
He should have known that this kid was a bit shameless.
Dr. Zhu didn't say a word for a while, and Li Ping'an tried in a somewhat weak voice: "Doctor Zhu?"
"The younger one is still too young. Let's take your older brother. He's called Fugui, right? Remember to bring him to become a disciple when the time comes. The apprenticeship ceremony cannot be less. I won't agree to anything less!" Dr. Zhu said angrily. road.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I guarantee that the apprenticeship ceremony will satisfy you!"
Although Li Ping'an's expression could not be seen, one could tell from his tone how ecstatic he was at the moment. Doctor Zhu couldn't help but feel angry, "Why don't you think about yourself? Studying medicine has a much better future than doing business. Doing business If you have a low status and no power, you will be someone else's money bag. If you learn a skill in medicine, you will not only be able to support your family, but even though you are not as good as an official or a scholar, you will still be respected."
Of course Li Ping'an knew that there were no human rights in this era, the imperial power did not go to the countryside, and the country squires and wealthy families were powerful. It would be fine for him to earn a little money, but if he accidentally made his business bigger, it would be a life-threatening talisman hanging over his head. A sword can be stolen by those landlords at any time.
As for win-win cooperation, that's even more nonsense. People's greed can never be satisfied. Let the landlords see the money flowing into other people's pockets. If they don't make money, they will lose it. How can they be red-eyed? It doesn’t matter whether you are valuable or not, just kill the goose and get the eggs.
But what can Li Ping'an do? There was not even an imperial examination in the Jing Dynasty. It is said that there was a unified dynasty before the troubled times, but it made the aristocratic families dissatisfied, and natural disasters occurred, and the people were in dire straits, so the previous dynasty was gone, so There was a period of chaos that lasted for more than seventy years.
Moreover, there are no opportunities to study in Qingfeng County. Only wealthy gentry families have private schools. Children of non-tribes cannot enroll. County schools do exist, but they are too expensive. Tuition, books, and paper add up to at least ten taels of silver a year. I can't afford to read it at all.
But no matter what, he still has to make money. It’s hard to eat enough just relying on the output of the fields. More or less rain can affect the harvest, making it even harder to eat.
Studying medicine takes too much time. If there hadn't been this flood, he could have taken his time, but now he has to flee. To escape to a place he is not familiar with and start from scratch, he simply cannot spare so much time. Energy comes.
In addition, he felt that he could live a slightly better life relying on the memories of his previous life, but his younger brothers would always grow up and have to do something else. Instead of letting them dig up food from the ground with their backs to the sky, or It's better to learn some skills than to do odd jobs behind him. If he succeeds in learning, he, the eldest brother, won't need to worry too much about them.
Maybe it can also protect the family in turn.
