Li Fu was taken into prison, waiting to be set for trial. Taking advantage of the opportunity to arrest Li Si, Chief Hong went to Li Fu's home to search, but unfortunately he did not find the secret recipe for MSG.
Zhao Cheng sat in the elegant seat on the second floor of Dashunzhai, opposite Zhang Dashun. Dashunzhai's business is getting more and more prosperous, so Zhang Dashun has hired a second shopkeeper to take care of the accounts on the first floor for him.
"Boy, if you do this, aren't you afraid that someone named Hong will come to know and target you?" Zhang Dashun looked at the bustling crowd on the street. As long as he hesitated for a while in front of the Dashunzhai and Hong Shengde gates, most of them would have entered the Dashunzhai. I feel very happy.
Nowadays, Dashunzhai has quickly turned a profit with the help of MSG. It is full of diners every day, from morning to night. When prominent people in Qinghe County treat guests to dinner, they will choose Dashunzhai instead of Hong Shengde.
Zhang Dashun understood that Dashunzhai's current situation was almost entirely dependent on Zhao Cheng's MSG. If Hong Yuankui knew that Zhao Cheng was using him, his revenge would be even more violent, and he couldn't help but worry about him.
Zhao Cheng shook his head: "If Dashunzhai wants to defeat Hong Shengde, sooner or later it will have to be a real fight with real swords and guns. How can it be called a business war if there is no blood on the bayonet?"
"Sooner or later, Hong Yuankui will know about your relationship. To blame Li Fu now is just a matter of convenience, not a long-term solution."
In fact, Zhao Cheng knew better than anyone else that in order to obtain maximum benefits and allow Dashunzhai to move out of Qinghe County and into a wider world, he must defeat Hong Shengde.
Hong Baotou is just a small stone blocking the Long March. If you can't even get over this small stone, how can you talk about your future ambitions?
Li Fu took a big blame, and Zhao Cheng felt that he deserved it, even if he took revenge for bullying Rushuang through Hong Yuankui's hands.
The next step to get rid of Hong Yuankui's threat is actually very simple, which is to participate in the imperial examination.
The status of a candidate for the imperial examination is a good shield, and the status of a scholar will make him more or less afraid. Hong Yuankui dared to whip Li Fu, but he may not have the courage to whip a scholar.
In recent times, Zhao Chengshu has never left his hand. He has accumulated knowledge from previous lives, and often has different insights and deeper understandings of the interpretation of classics from this era.
Coupled with my recent study, I have roughly read the "Five Classics of Justice" once. Although I may not be able to recite the contents, I already have a rough outline in my mind.
We are already 20% sure about the scriptures.
In addition to the classics, the Jinshi examination also includes essays and policy questions.
Zhao Cheng was not familiar with poems and rhymes in essays, and poetry had reached its peak in the Tang Dynasty. It would be difficult for later generations to produce wonderful works that could surpass them. However, there was no problem in finding three or five poems from the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Not to mention Ce Wen, Zhao Cheng Ziwen has some practical experience. All of these combined, he is about 60 to 70% sure of passing the county examination.
The county examination is usually held in February, but it is already late October, which means that there are still three months until the exam starts.
Hong Yuankui could dig out Zhao Cheng's identity and origins from Li Fu's mouth in at most half a month, including the MSG matter, and make everything clear.
After all, Hong Yuankui can be considered a local snake. He has been operating in Qinghe County for many years and has a network of contacts. If he really uses his power, Zhao Cheng will definitely not be his opponent.
Zhao Cheng said to Zhang Dashun: "So I need you to do me a favor."
"I've been reading a lot lately, hoping to get a good ranking in the county exam next February. But I'm still not familiar with the scriptures part, so I hope I can find a teacher."
Zhang Dashun immediately understood what Zhao Cheng meant.
"Are you trying to make Hong Yuankui wary by using Juzi's identity? This is a good move."
He stroked his beard and said, "Speaking of classics and principles, there are not many people I know who can make Hong Yuankui fearful."
"There is only one old master named Zheng Yucheng. He has a very eccentric temper, but his knowledge is very useful. He once served as a Confucian scholar in Yanzhou. Later, he became an official due to illness. He returned to his hometown of Qinghe County and stayed in seclusion. He seemed to have a daughter under his knees. He usually came to I go there alone.”
"Dashun Zhai hadn't opened yet, and I often went fishing by the Qingshui River, so I didn't know him very well."
"However, I don't dare to take this for granted. Zheng Yucheng has a weird temper. Whether he can like you and accept you as his disciple depends on whether you can catch his eye."
Zhao Cheng nodded. Most talented people have weird tempers. This is human nature and is not surprising.
Since this Zheng Yucheng was once the Confucian scholar of Yanzhou, he should be very familiar with the county and government examinations, and had even set questions and supervised the examinations himself. If you can really worship him as your teacher, you will be a little more sure about the Jinshi Department.
Moreover, his experience as an official was enough to deter Hong Yuankui from acting rashly.
"Mr. Zhang, then I'll ask you to do this for me." Zhao Chenggong handed over his hand.
Zhang Dashun waved his hand and said: "We are our own people, so we don't need to be so polite. If you can be more stable, my Dashunzhai will be more stable. I say I am helping you, but in fact I am also helping me."
"Alas, Dashunzhai has not been very prosperous this year, and I am not in the mood to go fishing again. I haven't seen him for a long time. In this way, I will go to his house soon to find out what he has to say first."
Zhang Dashun saw the expectant look on Zhao Cheng's face and said quickly: "Don't have too high hopes yet. This Zheng Yucheng may not accept a disciple."
Zhao Chengdao: "It doesn't matter, let's give it a try."
After bidding farewell to Zhang Dashun, he left Dashunzhai and walked slowly back along the street. Zhao Cheng bought a few pastries, candies, etc. on the way and brought them back to Zhou Rushuang to eat.
Because the dozen barbarians in the warehouse have become skilled workers, cutting grass, cooking rice, and making MSG every day. Only when there is a shortage of materials, Zhao Cheng needs to go to the market to buy some, and he can almost let go of the rest. .
In addition, Zhao Cheng successfully put Li Fu in jail, so it can be said that the great revenge has been avenged, so there has been nothing much in the recent period. Apart from going to Dashunzhai to take a look, he returned home if he had nothing else to do.
Zhao Cheng is often at home recently, and Mr. Dong urges Zhao Cheng to study. In addition, the first month's dividend from Dashunzhai has been received. In addition to spending a large amount of money to buy the warehouse, there are still dozens of taels left. silver.
In the past, Zhou Rushuang worked hard for several years to save a few hundred pennies. Now he has dozens of taels of silver in the cabinet, and he has completely got rid of the anxiety of food and clothing.
The husband is making progress in his studies, there is enough firewood and rice in the house, the house does not leak from the rain, and there is no frostbite in the winter. The little girl feels extremely happy in her heart.
The only thing that still made her feel uneasy was Zhao Cheng's attitude towards her.
