"Guanren, how old are you this year?"
Mei Xu did not directly answer Mei Shou's words, but instead asked an unrelated topic.
Mei Shou couldn't help but blush: "I'm not young anymore, I've already passed my forties."
"Time flies so fast. In the blink of an eye, the officials are already forty, and the slave family will be forty in three or four years." Mei Xu couldn't help but sigh, "In the beginning, the slave family was only sixteen, and the officials were only twenty. "
Mei Shou nodded, and then asked in confusion: "In a blink of an eye, the child has grown up. Fortunately, both children have great potential. Why did the lady think of asking about this matter?"
"Officer, I would like to ask you, what will be the consequences of this matter?" Mrs. Mei Xu still did not follow Mei Shou's idea and continued to ask according to her own ideas.
Mei Shou thought for a while and said pessimistically: "If it is done well, not only the governor will think it is appropriate to be a husband, but also the husband will think it is appropriate."
"Officer, I would like to ask you again, what if this matter goes wrong?" Mrs. Mei Xu asked another question.
Mei Shou fell into deep thought, and finally smiled bitterly: "Madam, it's hard to say what the result will be. After all, the students are a group of students who are not afraid of anything. Even a few governors did not try to please them, and even my husband was pissed to death."
"Official, haven't you seen it yet? The Prime Minister and the governor are being suppressed by the imperial students. They have no better way, so let the official take the lead now." Mei Xu analyzed them one by one.
Mei Shou nodded and agreed with his wife's statement: "Xie Xianggong was in a legal dispute with the Imperial College student. It seems that the Imperial College student had the upper hand and wanted Lin'an to create some problems for the Imperial College student."
"This is serious. Why do officials need to go into troubled waters? Why do officials need to show off for things that are difficult for the husband and the governor to handle?" Mrs. Mei Xu reminded Mei Shou.
Mei Shou thought for a while and smiled bitterly: "Although Xie Xianggong can't control the officials, it's not easy for the governor to deal with him!"
"Why should the official be so persistent? In fact, this is an opportunity for the official?" Mei Xu smiled mysteriously and said a topic that Mei Shou didn't expect.
"Opportunity?" Mei Shou didn't understand for a moment, "What opportunity?"
Mei Xu's soft fingers touched Mei Shou's forehead: "This is an opportunity to win two birds with one stone. The official is still old and has no hope of advancement, so he might as well give it a try."
"It's difficult, it's very difficult. It's just adding blood to the edge of the knife. It's simply impossible to please both sides." Mei Shou pondered for a long time and shook his head, sighing heavily.
Mrs. Mei Xu tapped her finger on Mei Shou's forehead again, and said with confidence: "The officials may as well deal with Fu Yin on the surface, or help Ewang Temple secretly."
"Let me, my husband, plan this carefully." Mei Shou fell into deep thought.
The next day, Mei Shou took the people from the workshop to Qixialing in an ox cart.
As soon as they got off the bullock cart, they heard the sound of clanging and banging, which was the sound of construction at the construction site.
As soon as Mei Shou stepped onto the stone road, he was stopped by two imperial students.
The two imperial students bowed their hands and asked in a neither arrogant nor humble manner: "Who is here?"
Didn't you see that we are the government? Mei Shou complained in his heart.
But he is a Tai student and he is polite.
Although he wanted to get angry, he couldn't get angry easily.
"I am Mei Zicao, the official of Lin'an Prefecture. I came here specifically to inspect how the Ewang Temple was built." Mei Shou returned the courtesy and explained the purpose of his visit.
The two imperial students looked at each other, and the taller one named Gao Ming spoke.
Gao Ming shook his head, with a hint of ridicule in his tone: "Tell me to Officer Mei, why does the Lin'an Prefecture care about the Ewang Temple? Do you dare to ask how much money Lin'an Prefecture will allocate?"
Hearing this, Mei Shou felt his face burning.
But this is official business and cannot be withdrawn just because of a word.
"The government is poor now," Mei Shouxian cried, and then said in a stern tone, "Besides, if you build the Ewang Temple, will the government agree to it or the court?"
"This is a public fund-raising, and it seems that there is no need for government intervention." Gao Ming counterattacked coldly, bowed his hands, and said in a neither arrogant nor humble voice, "Since the government will not withdraw funds, students please ask the official to return the way he came."
Mei Shou couldn't help but smile bitterly on his face, but this was something he couldn't control.
If you want to blame, you can only blame the court and the government for not allocating funds.
But now it makes sense for the Tai student to use this as an excuse to stop him.
"My thoughts are with you. This is a tribute to King E." He rolled his eyes and took out a Guiguizi from his sleeve.
Gao Ming nodded, put aside his usual pause, and at the same time stepped aside to let Mei Shou in with a gesture of invitation.
Mei Shou couldn't help but smile bitterly, feeling that this group of imperial students had become bandits cutting the road, and they had to pay some toll before they could let them go.
But the Tai student did not ask them for money, but he felt that he was wrong and could only make up for it.
If they don't pay, they have no reason to visit the construction site.
This is a public fund-raising exercise, and the government has no reason to inspect it.
Gongfang Dianshi Jiang Zheng was following Mei Shou. He wanted to go in but was stopped by Gao Ming.
"I don't have a salary." Jiang Zheng bowed his hands and smiled bitterly.
Gao Ming had a look of ridicule on his face. Although these petty officials did not have any salary, the amount of money they received far exceeded the official salary.
Hearing this, Mei Shou turned around and looked at Jiang Zheng and others, looking back calmly: "Donate as much or as little as you like, more or less it comes from your heart."
Gao Ming looked at it with his classmates and made no comment.
Jiang Zheng and others breathed a sigh of relief and did not say that they would just die.
Jiang Zheng thought for a while, then took out half a piece of paper from his sleeve and handed it to Gao Ming.
There were two clerks behind Jiang Zheng. They couldn't help but smile bitterly when they saw that Jiang Zheng had already paid.
The two looked at each other, took out two hundred huizi from their sleeves, and handed it to Gao Ming.
Behind Jiang Zheng is a small official in black, and there are others behind the small official.
They are none other than ten experienced craftsmen.
They are very easy to distinguish. They are dressed in short-sleeved brown clothes and their hands are covered with calluses.
These craftsmen looked at each other and took out a hundred Wenhuizi from their sleeves.
"Master craftsmen, one penny is enough." Gao Ming originally didn't want to accept their donations, but when he saw that they wanted to donate, he hurriedly reminded him.
This was the request of the little saint, and he dared not disobey it.
The two petty officials couldn't help being furious, and turned around to argue with Gao Ming.
We don’t have a salary, so why do we have to take 200 Huizi, while craftsmen with little legs only need one penny.
Jiang Zheng hurriedly grabbed the two clerks and winked.
They are minor officials. Even the governor would not look down upon these imperial students, let alone these minor officials.
Seeing the wink from their immediate superior, the two clerks had no choice but to give up, looking resentful.
But to the surprise of the two petty officials, something unexpected happened.
A craftsman named Bai Lao, who was about fifty with a wrinkled face, bowed his hands and said to Gao Ming: "We respect King E. If King E hadn't worked so hard, the Hu people might have conquered the Yangtze River, and we would have been slaves to the subjugation of our country. I must give you this hundred cents, so please accept it."
The two clerks couldn't help but blush when they heard this, wishing they could crawl into a crack in the ground.
The students from Taipei University only wanted one penny from these craftsmen, but these craftsmen also donated a hundred pence.
You should know that their donations were not huizi but copper coins, which was more than two petty officials and equivalent to 300 huizi.
Gao Ming repeatedly declined, but Bai Lao persisted and had no choice but to accept.
Mei Shou came to the construction site. There were many people on the construction site, estimated to be about a thousand craftsmen.
They carry earth, they carry stones, they level the ground.
Man Tianxing is very happy now. Not only has he become the most famous celebrity among the younger generation in Lin'an Mansion, but he is also engaged to the twelve mothers of Chengsi, a wealthy businessman in Lin'an.
It could be seen from Cheng Si's tone that the little saint had taken a liking to him.
He now has two ways to go. One way is to continue taking the imperial examination, pass the imperial examination and enter the officialdom.
But this road is very difficult. The road to becoming a scholar involves thousands of troops crossing a single-plank bridge.
Even if he finally succeeded in standing out from thousands of troops, the redundant personnel of the Song Dynasty were very powerful.
It is good that a Jinshi can be awarded a ninth-grade official, but a fellow Jinshi can only be awarded a ninth-grade minor official. Only the top three can hope to be awarded an official position above eighth grade.
He has entered the eyes of the little saint, at least a minor official from the ninth rank has no problem.
And as long as he achieves some results, it's not impossible to rise to great heights.
But there must be a prerequisite for this, that is, the Ewang Temple must be repaired.
Ewang Temple occupies a large area, about 150 acres of land.
The land had been purchased, and the stones and wood were in place. They found an auspicious day and officially started construction.
For such a big project, he didn't dare to make the decision privately, and he was always worried.
In desperation, he came to find his future father-in-law Cheng Si and asked him for an idea.
Cheng Si was about fifty, with a prosperous face and a smile on his face.
Perhaps because he has taken good care of himself, even though he has reached the age of knowing his destiny, he does not have many gray hairs and wrinkles.
After hearing this, Cheng Si shook his head: "I am a businessman. I will not get involved in this matter that affects the reputation of Ewang Temple."
"The boy is inexperienced and needs Uncle Cheng to lead the way. I didn't expect this result. It's a pity." Man Tianxing couldn't help but sigh when he heard that Cheng Si was unwilling to join.
Seeing the disappointment on Man Tianxing's face, he lightly reminded: "This is the maintenance committee established by you Tai students. If I get involved, in what name, how will your classmates think about it?"
"Uncle makes sense, what should I do about this?" Man Tianxing was disappointed and had no choice but to ask Cheng Si for advice.
Cheng Si thought for a while and then asked: "How many people do you have in your association? Do you have a vice president?"
"This guy is the president of the Maintenance Association, and there are two vice-presidents." Gypsophila bowed respectfully and answered honestly.
Cheng Si nodded, took a sip of tea, and looked at the sky full of stars: "This Ewang Temple was initiated by your Taisheng students. You should discuss it with the two vice presidents and seek their opinions. Otherwise, your It is inevitable that classmates will have different opinions.”
After being reminded by the shop, Man Tianxing suddenly broke into a cold sweat.
Indeed, the money was for charity. Although he had no thoughts of corruption, he could not stop others from thinking in these directions.
"Boy, take your leave and go back to discuss with the two vice-presidents." Gypsophila bowed his hands and left in a hurry.
Man Gypsophila had just left when his wife, Cheng Xiong, came out of the screen, followed by a little maid.
She asked in confusion: "Guardian, this is an opportunity to gain both fame and fortune, why did you give up?"
"It would be a lie to say that I'm not moved. However, this matter involves a civil and military struggle, and even the governor of Lin'an can't avoid it. What's more, I am a businessman." Cheng Si couldn't help but shake his head and sighed.
Cheng Xiong couldn't help but sigh heavily: "This is a thing that will last forever. Even if you lose money, you have to continue doing it, not to mention the possibility of making a slight profit."
"I am a businessman, and I smell like copper. How can I tarnish the reputation of Ewang Temple?" Cheng Si took a deep sip of tea, "The student will never let me get involved."
"That's true. King E is a saint with both civil and military skills. It's really inappropriate for an official to smell like copper." Cheng Xiong shook his head and said with a heavy tone, unwillingly, "If the official is not a businessman, he can definitely participate. .”
Man Tianxing returned to Taixue and found two vice presidents.
These two vice presidents, one is named Wen Tianxiang and the other is named Lu Xiufu.
He bowed to Wen Tianxiang and Lu Xiufu and asked: "Song Rui, Jun Shi, Cheng Yuanwai is unwilling to participate, what should we do now?"
