After a tiring night, Zhang Yue woke up the next day. He was excited for a while. When he walked outside the house, he heard Zhang Shi talking to Baozheng. He planned to entrust Zhang Yue to Baozheng and go to Yue's father-in-law's house in Jianyang to take him back. Sister-in-law’s children.
But it is said that Jianzhou, where Pucheng is located, has three most famous things, namely Jianben, Jiankiln and Jiantea. Zhang Shi's father-in-law's family makes a living by making tea.
"I'm going to Jianyang. I'll borrow some money from my father-in-law, so that this house can be sold or not!"
Hearing this, Zhang Yue said: "Brother, the amount of money we still owe Zhao Yasi is not a small amount. Can the in-laws borrow so much money?"
"You don't need to worry too much about this," Zhang Shi forced a smile, "I also have hands and feet, I can just return it in the future."
Zhang Shi is not so relaxed, and it is not so easy to ask his father-in-law, wife and brother for help, especially for a man's self-esteem.
Zhang Shi said with emotion: "When I bought this house, you were not born and I was still young. I grew up in this house. I watched my father studying in the north house and my mother raising our three brothers in the south house. I didn't want to sell it. This is just to have something to think about. Taking a step back, if our three brothers separate in the future, we will at least have a house to share. "
Zhang Yue lowered his head and said: "Brother, why are you talking about dividing the family? I don't know where the second brother is?"
Zhang Shi said: "I know you blame your second brother in your heart, but no matter what, he has a share in this house. If we save this house, he will miss it. He will always come back to take a look in the future."
Zhang Yue asked in surprise: "Brother, are you saying that the second brother is not coming back?"
Zhang Shi shook his head and said: "I don't know that. I'm not anxious for him to come back. If he..."
Zhang Yue knew that his elder brother said that the second brother was coming back and was captured by Zhao Yasi's people...
After Zhang Shi gave Zhang Yue some instructions before leaving, he gave him half a drop of money and hurried to Jianyang.
Zhang Yue felt empty in his heart when he saw his brother leaving.
We were a middle-class family, with a shop, property, and a house, but in the end we were left without a home. He suddenly remembered what he saw last night.
The next moment Zhang Yue said something to Baozheng and went out.
To go from Baozheng's home to the county town, you must pass the Shuinan Bridge over the Nanpu River.
The flow of Nanpu River is very fast. In the past, only pontoons could be built on the stream. In the two seasons when the water surges in spring and the rains are heavy in summer, the only way to float on the stream is by boat. Later, when Chen Xiang was appointed magistrate of the county, he decided to clear away the rocks in the stream and destroyed several dams in the upper reaches despite strong resistance. Then he built a bridge in the south of the city to facilitate people's communication.
This involved some political struggles. Officials such as Chen Xiang represented the will of the court, which was in opposition to local officials and powerful families.
When Chen Xiang was appointed as the magistrate of Pucheng, Fan Zhongyan, who was in charge of the central government at that time, was conducting political reforms. Chen Xiang built the county school in response to Fan Zhongyan Qingli's call to build a school. According to historical records, Chen Xiang built a 300-year-old school in Pucheng and gave lectures in person, attracting hundreds of students.
Later, when Chen Xiang learned about Heyang County, he also paid attention to education and set up a county school to teach in person. At that time, Fan Zhongyan had already left the country, and someone immediately reported to the county governor Fu Bi that Chen Xiang's purpose in setting up the county school was to "lure the local people to pay for passers-by." Someone advised Chen Xiang to tear down the county school to prevent defamation. Chen Xiang countered by saying that those who purify themselves will purify themselves. This won Fu Bi's appreciation.
In fact, the prefectural and county schools ostensibly promote Confucianism, but in fact they are a means for those in power to control the local government through education and control the channels for official advancement. Therefore, for setting up a county school, Chen Xiang was praised by the villagers once, but failed to get an official position the other time.
The sun was shining brightly. When Zhang Yue walked to the bridge, there was a bridge pavilion to block the scorching sun.
The Nanpu Bridge is made of long strips of granite. There is a pavilion-shaped bridge house dozens of meters long on the bridge for pedestrians to take shelter from the rain and sun, and to rest and enjoy the scenery of the river. Such bridge pavilions were very common when Zhang Yue was traveling in Jiangxi, Zhejiang, eastern Zhejiang, and western Fujian.
Zhang Yue was wearing a boy's shirt and walking by with half a pound of money in his waist. He saw vendors on both sides of the bridge house. The vendors were sitting on the ground and selling along the bridge.
“Fresh mountain bamboo shoots!”
"The best snake medicine!"
"Baobao!"
"Fresh fish!"
"Selling red grapes!"
"Toad!"
The vendor puts the toads in an urn and covers them with a bowl. When customers want to buy, they directly reach out to grab them in the urn.
The fishmongers were squatting aside. They tied the heads and tails of the fish with straw ropes to make a bow shape and placed them on the stall. The fish was still alive out of the water.
Those selling fruits and vegetables mainly sell sativa and mustard, while the snacks are mostly soups and cakes.
And red glutinous rice is the essence of all food. After adding these mountain products and river fresh food into red glutinous rice, it becomes a delicacy suitable for Fujian people of all ages. There are also people playing snakes on the bridge, causing passers-by to scream.
Zhang Yue walked across the bridge, but saw sandalwood smoke curling up along the road. There was a shrine here, where many good men and women burned incense and worshiped.
After crossing the bridge, Zhang Yue arrived at the county seat.
There are three city gates in the south of the county. The south is called Nanpu Gate, facing Nanpu Bridge. The Longtan Gate on the left and right, and the Yingmen Gate facing the Nanpu River. The soldiers standing at the city gate were just checking the merchants entering the city, but Zhang Yue, who came empty-handed, just took a look and let him in.
Zhang Yue entered the city this time because of Zhao Yasi's words last night, which made him doubtful in his heart. Judging from Zhao Yasi's expression and tone when he said this, it seemed that the other party was not responsible for burning down his shop.
So Zhang Yue came to Chema Street where his shop was located.
Pucheng is the main road out of Fujian Province. After crossing Xianxia Ridge, you will reach Zhejiang. Generally, businessmen who want to leave Fujian will hire cars, horses and porters here, so it is called Carriage Street.
The Zhang family originally had a Yanli Inn here to provide accommodation for travelers. The reason why it is called a fence shop is because there is an iron fence hanging at the door of the store. This iron fence is a kind of cooking utensil. Hanging it at the door of the store means that the store only stays in the store and does not make cooking utensils. However, it provides cooking utensils for travelers to make fire and eat.
The fire broke out in the middle of the night, and there were three groups of guests staying in the hotel at that time. After the fire, a lot of the luggage and goods of the three batches of guests were burned.
Among the guests was a merchant from Zhejiang who came to Fujian to sell silk. It is said that he brought more than 300 strings of Hu silk with him and burned it all to ashes. The next day, Zhang's family was sued by a passenger to the county. In the end, the county ordered the brother to pay more than 200 yuan in compensation to the three guests.
Zhang Yue arrived in front of his shop on Chema Street and walked around but found nothing.
Logically speaking, the fire starts from the kitchen stove, but in addition to a little money for burning firewood, our own Yanli store provides free cooking utensils for travelers to cook their own meals.
If there was a fire that day, and travelers from three families had access to the kitchen stove, it might not necessarily be their own responsibility, but that was the ruling of the Yamen.
Zhang Yue walked around for a few times but didn't find any clues. He was not very sure. Can he judge the evidence just by sleeping?
Wouldn’t he become Sherlock Holmes?
Zhang Yue laughed to himself, gave up his plan to find out the truth, and walked aimlessly on the street. However, he didn't notice anyone following him at this moment.
As Zhang Yue walked, he thought of Zhang Xu, his second brother who cheated his younger brother.
The second brother is eight years older than me. As long as I can remember, I have always heard about the talents and learning of my second brother.
When Chen Xiang was appointed magistrate of Pucheng County, he established a county school and recruited talented people from among the people.
At that time, he read Zhang Xu's article and admired it very much, and also praised his good calligraphy. Chen Xiang decided to try it out in person, and was even more amazed when he saw his second brother's talent.
However, Chen Xiang wondered how Zhang Xu could write such an article at such a young age, so he tried one himself. Zhang Xu wrote it immediately. Chen Xiang believed it after reading it in the hall, and immediately stood up and left the case to invite him to his seat.
The Song Dynasty was an era of respecting child prodigies, such as the famous Fang Zhongyong.
From then on, Zhang Xu not only went to school in the county, but also received no tuition fees. Chen Xiang once said to his colleagues: "This boy is very smart, bold and ruthless, and he can get fame at his fingertips!"
You must know that the appreciation of ordinary people, even ordinary officials, is not important to anyone, but this Chen Xiang is not an ordinary person. Chen Xiang is a master of Confucianism and is known as the Four Binhai Teachers.
It is recorded in the history of the Song Dynasty that he was famous for his ability to recognize people and recommend them well. He had recommended Sima Guang, Han Wei, Lu Gongzu, Su Shi, Su Che, Zheng Xia, Fan Chunren, Zeng Gong, Cheng Hao, Zhang Zai and other big names. .
According to historical records, Chen Xiang recommended thirty-three people. Except for one, the rest were all famous officials with a master's degree. They were second only to Ouyang Xiu in the official circles of the Song Dynasty.
Because of Chen Xiang's evaluation, the second brother became famous and became a talented person in his hometown.
As Chen Xiang's confidant, Zhao Yasi wanted to marry Zhang Xu, so he betrothed his only daughter to him in advance. After all, when Zhang Xu becomes a Jinshi in some year and wants to come to ask for marriage, people will look down on you.
Zhang Yue never understood where Chen Xiang's evaluation of his second brother's "courage and toughness" came from.
It wasn't until he was tricked that Zhang Yue was so impressed that he knew the boss was the boss, and he was really good at reading people!
As Zhang Yue was wandering on the street, he was suddenly slapped on the shoulder. Zhang Yue looked back and saw a young man of similar age to himself, tall and thick, standing behind him with his arms folded, looking at him with a smile.
Zhang Yue felt that he looked familiar, but he couldn't remember it for a while.
"Erlang, are you in the city? When will you come back to study?"
Zhang Yue searched his memory for a while and then remembered that the other person turned out to be his classmate and friend Peng Jingyi. There was a group of teenagers of similar age beside him, all of whom were his classmates.
Many of them were wearing brocade and satin clothes, and behind them were book boys carrying bags for their masters.
Zhang Yue didn't think much about it: "I can't go back for a while."
Peng Jingyi grinned: "If you can't go back, you can't go back. What's so good about reading this crappy book? I don't want to read it for a long time. Let's have tea together today and reminisce about the past. I'll sit here for a while and none of you are allowed to leave first!"
Except for Peng Jingyi, the other students raised their hands and smiled and said, "We won't go."
Zhang Yue saw everyone smiling politely but with a touch of alienation, which was a rejection method familiar to scholars.
Isn’t it just a private collection of pornographic paintings?
The more Zhang Yue remembered, there were some pictures of ancient ladies, and the women in the pictures were all dressed in formal clothes. They were really not worthy of publicity. They were nothing compared to the teachings of Teacher Sanshang and Teacher Daqiao in those years.
Thinking of this, Zhang Yue suddenly thought that these paintings did not belong to him alone, so why did he bear all the blame in the end?
Of course, this matter was just a pretext, behind the pressure was Zhao Yasi. As the weakest person in the private school, the teacher did not like to see him.
In the past, because of his brother's reputation, even if he didn't work hard, the tutor would not dare to say a word. Moreover, my family was rich at that time, and I spent a lot of money to show off to my classmates to regain my self-esteem that had been damaged academically. As a result, there were many classmates who called him brothers, but they were all fair-weather friends. As for the classmates who were willing to study hard and make progress, they looked down on him.
Now that Zhang Yue is in trouble and has offended Zhao Yasi, these fair-weather friends immediately draw a clear line. As for Xiang Xue's classmates, they will not pay attention to Zhang Yue at this time. I am afraid they are just taking pleasure in others' misfortune.
"We have guests at home. Brother Peng, please wait for another day!"
"My mother called me home for dinner!"
"The county school will make up for the enrollment in two months, so I don't dare to slack off."
"Brother Zhang, you are so busy, how dare you disturb me."
"There's no reason, I just want to go home."
Seeing this, Peng Jingyi was a bit confused, waved his hand and said, "You guys are so boring."
"Brother Peng, Brother Zhang, let's talk about it some other time."
After all the students bowed, they left with the book boy. They laughed heartily as they walked, but no one looked at Zhang Yue.
Zhang Yue knew that he might not have been able to go to private school in the past, and his fate with these classmates would have ended here, and maybe it would go further and further in the future.
Zhang Yue withdrew his gaze and said to Peng Jingyi with a faint smile: "Brother Peng, let's talk about it another day!"
Peng Jingyi said: "That's not possible. They don't have the kung fu, and you don't have the kung fu either? Let's go to He Tieseng's place for tea."
After saying that, Peng Jingyi put his arm around Zhang Yue's neck without any refusal. Zhang Yue felt warm in his heart, this was a true friend.
He remembered that Peng Jingyi's uncle was a county captain in this county, and he heard rumors that he was at odds with Zhao Yasi.
Peng Jingyi lowered his voice: "Is the matter between your family and Zhao Yasi really over? Let's go have tea first and talk while we talk."
Zhang Yue still bowed his head resolutely and said: "Brother Peng is so righteous, let's wait for another day..."
When you are poor, you should not visit relatives. When you are in trouble, your friends will not dislike you, but you cannot bring trouble to others.
But when Peng Jingyi raised his fist as big as a sandbag...
"...Then it's better to be respectful than to obey!"
The two went to the tea shop where they used to go, and Peng Jingyi's book boy was sent back by him. Peng Jingyi always had a rich life. He usually browsed picture books, drank tea and fought with insects. The book boy was bossed around by him on weekdays. If he disobeyed, he would be beaten, so he didn't dare to ask more questions and left.
Although Peng Jingyi said that he has not yet engaged in prostitution and gambling, according to Zhang Yue, it seems that it will be a matter of time. In the past, when I was a classmate with Peng Jingyi, I always felt that if you can play without working hard, why can't I?
Later I learned that his uncle, the county captain, would have no worries about a future even if he didn't study. I could have done it myself, but...
Before arriving at the tea table, I saw a man under the water curtain banging tea cups to solicit business.
As soon as the other party saw the two of them, he stopped singing and said, "Peng Daguan! Zhang Daguan, I haven't been here for a while."
Zhang Yue was in a very complicated mood, a high official? I'm afraid I won't be able to bear this title anymore.
The name of this tea doctor is He Tieseng.
"I've been busy lately! Order two cups of good tea, and I'll give you the tea money."
He Tieseng laughed and said, "I rely on Peng Daguan to take care of me."
After saying that, He Tieseng took the tea set and was about to put some tea on the stove.
"What kind of water did you use today?" Peng Jingyi asked.
"This is the mountain spring water that was just brought in this morning. Can Mr. Xue take it in his eyes?"
"Reluctantly, reluctantly." Peng Jingyi said indifferently.
At that moment, Dr. He Tieseng, the tea doctor, was ordering tea. He first broke off a piece of tea cake and put it into the tea pot that was boiling water.
After the tea soup boils, He Tieseng scoops out a bowl of water from the tea pot and pours in the remaining tea powder, stirs the tea soup with a teaspoon, then sprinkles salt, and finally pours the "cold tea soup" he scooped out earlier into the tea soup to save it from boiling.
After the tea soup boiled again, the aroma of tea filled the entire tea shop.
During this period, two singers came unannounced and wanted to have a drink. Peng Jingyi hesitated for a long time and let them leave.
He Tieseng poured the tea soup into the tea cup, then brought it to the tea table in front of the two of them. He scooped the tea soup out of the tea cup and poured it into the scalded tea bowls and presented it to the two of them.
Zhang Yue raised the bowl and took a sip. The tea was fragrant. It was a bit astringent at first when he held it in his mouth. Soon he naturally produced fluids. After swallowing, the tea was sweet and lingering.
The two of them sat down and kept chatting. At this time, Zhang Yuefang said: "I have a favor, please ask Brother Peng for help!"
Peng Jingyi said: "Oh? What's the big deal? Let's talk about it first."
Zhang Yue said: "I would like to borrow the files on the case where my shop was burned down and take a look at it. Can you ask your uncle to accommodate me?"
Peng Jingyi glanced at Zhang Yue in confusion and said, "Why are you borrowing the files? Do you want to overturn the case?"
Zhang Yue replied awkwardly: "It's just a casual look. It doesn't matter if you can't borrow it."
Peng Jingyi glanced at Zhang Yue and said, "If you can't handle such a small thing, I won't let you look down upon it. Just come to the teahouse to pick it up tomorrow. Yes, I heard that your brother has come to Beijing?"
Zhang Yue said with a chill in his heart: "Brother Peng, your information is really well-informed."
Peng Jingyi gave a thumbs up and praised: "It's a clever move to attack in the east and attack in the west! Let me tell you, as long as Zhao Asi can't find your second brother, he won't dare to attack you. What if he makes things difficult for you, just like he has ruined Chen Lingjun's face? ."
"But having said that, if your second brother is caught, everything will be over. Doesn't Zhao Yasi have enough means to deal with people? As long as your second brother's hand is broken, how will he write in the future? But your second brother Hiding without showing your face is not an option. You know what? I heard that Zhao Yasi will send his confidants to Beijing early tomorrow morning. "
Zhang Yue was startled and said, "Is it possible that there are people in Zhao Yasi's capital?"
If that was the case, wouldn't he have harmed his second brother?
Peng Jingyi said with a smile: "It's not like a police officer has such great hands and eyes, but I heard that Zhao police officer hates your second brother so much that he will ruin his future at all costs. So what about the people in Beijing, they still need to eat whole grains. If you want to eat grains and grains, you will be short of money. As long as you are short of money, you will find a way out if there is no way out."
Zhang Yue said: "I know that Brother Peng has great supernatural powers. Please help me find out the whereabouts of my second brother."
Peng Jingyi said: "You and I have been brothers for many years, and we just said "please". Now that I have said that, although your second brother's whereabouts are still unknown, you and your eldest brother should be careful. Don't go to the small roads where there are few people. If others call you, You must be careful wherever you go, Zhao Yasi's men are poisonous."
Zhang Yue's heart trembled when he heard this, remembering that day he almost disappeared from the world.
After Zhang Yue left the tea house, he thought about Peng Jingyi's instructions all the way, but he was in a state of confusion. Along the way, there were also some traces of evil spirits, and every passerby looked at him and felt that he did not look like a good person.
Returning from the city across the bridge, Zhang Yue decided to go home first and take a look.
Ps: Thanks to book friend joyii for becoming the first ally of this book!
