Two days later, the Jiang family.
Jiang Dezhong paced back and forth in the main hall of his home, looking out from time to time, looking very anxious, until he saw Jiang Shanquan.
"How is it?" Jiang Dezhong couldn't wait to welcome him to the yard and asked.
Jiang Shanquan shook his head helplessly and said: "The grain ships coming from the river have not unloaded in the city in the past two days. They were all booked before entering the Qinhuai River. Now the river has been blocked. I heard that Huaiyang Disaster victims have begun to appear in the area, and large quantities of food...can no longer be purchased."
When Jiang Dezhong heard this, his face showed an expression of regret that he should not have had at the beginning.
"If I had known earlier, I should have listened to Bingkuan... What is the price of food in the city now?" Jiang Dezhong was a little afraid to ask.
I feel that if I ask more, I will let more blood flow out of my heart.
Jiang Shanquan said: "Father, no one could have expected that today's situation would be like this. In just two or three days, the price of food in the city has increased by more than 100%, but didn't we also stock up a lot of old rice? We made a lot of profits this time. , why should you feel sorry for yourself?"
"Well..."
Jiang Dezhong thought for a moment and realized that he was right. He seemed to be the beneficiary of the increase in food prices. Why did it seem like his family was ruined now?
But thinking about it again, if he had listened to his son-in-law and bought more rice earlier, he would probably be able to count money while lying down.
"My son, someone clearly told my father that the price of grain would rise sharply, and he said it in a very conceited way. At that time, my father didn't listen. The day before yesterday, the grain ship came to my door and asked if he wanted to buy grain. Just because he A moment of forbearance resulted in money not coming through the door. As the old saying goes, if you miss the gold that God scatters to you, you will be punished."
"Father, is there such an old saying?"
"Bingkuan, has Bingkuan been here?"
Now Jiang Dezhong no longer trusts his son, and seems to only have eyes for the son-in-law who was very useless in the past.
Jiang Shanquan shook his head: "He still hasn't come in the past two days, but it stands to reason that he should be aware of the rise in food prices. Not only are food prices rising in the city, but all necessities such as firewood, rice, oil, and salt are also rising. He even came to inquire The number of people in the brewing business has increased a lot, and the big families will stock up on whatever they have. By the way, father, it seems that there are people from the Duke of Chengguo's office who are muddying the waters this time. They have taken over the food on many grain ships on the river. .”
"Look, did you blame him wrongly? You also said he was loose, but I think he is confident!"
"Father, if he can make his sister live a good life, I won't have any prejudice against him, but as a scholar, how can he concentrate on doing business?"
"Huh? Have the provincial examination results been released?"
"Not yet, but soon. It will happen in the next few days."
Jiang Dezhong thought about it for a while, nodded and said: "Let me put a few jars of wine, and my father will come to see him in person. He won't pass the exam anyway, so why not come to my wine shop and give him a job as a shopkeeper so that he can have a mouth to drink?" Let’s eat…”
At this point, Jiang Dezhong raised his head and expressed his emotion to the sky: "Oh, why don't I believe him? All the money in vain was delivered to the door of his house, but he asked me to be kicked out. I was being kicked out. The lard has blinded you!"
…
…
Gongyuan, inner curtain.
The opening and sealing of the inner curtains has been completed, and all the provincial examination papers will be compared with the names, and the results are being filled in.
As the chief examiner of the Yingtianfu Township Examination, Liu Ji supervised the inner curtain officials to fill in the results. He came to the inner court where the ink scrolls were stored, and saw Wang Hao, who was also the chief examiner, staring at a paper in a daze.
"Jizhi, the list will be published early tomorrow morning. Someone will come to seal these files later. Ying Tianfu Yin has sent someone to inform him that a banquet has been prepared at the house. I will invite you and me to the banquet tonight. Why don't you still? Get ready quickly?"
As the examiners of the Yingtianfu Township Examination, Liu Ji and Wang Hao have lived in Gongyuan for nearly twenty days. Only after the papers have been fully reviewed can they have formal communication with the outside world.
After finally completing the grading work, it is time to relax.
But when Liu Ji looked at Wang Hao's face, he didn't feel relaxed at all. Instead, he looked worried.
Wang Hao said: "Looking back at these articles, I feel a lot of emotion."
Liu Ji walked over, took a look, and said with a smile: "You still remember him? Don't you mention him as Jieyuan? I listened to you, and the paper that the scriptures are fluent in meaning and meaning is rare in the world, but I only got a second grade. Where’s Yuan?”
In terms of official position, Liu Ji was superior to Wang Hao. Logically speaking, the two examiners should be Liu Ji as the primary examiner and Wang Hao as the secondary.
But Liu Ji admired Wang Hao from the bottom of his heart and was willing to listen to his opinions, so he finally chose Wang Hao's favorite test paper and promoted him to Jieyuan.
Wang Hao sighed: "Look at this title in "Shangshu". When I came up with this title, I never thought about it, but it was in response to the floods in Huanghuai this year. Look at what he wrote, 'Don't take prevention as merit and treat governance as responsibility.' , Isn’t this a reflection of the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty today? If the flood control strategy in the areas along the Huanghuai River is just to calm the people after the floods are released, and take this as credit, then who will take it as their own responsibility to prevent rivers and levees?"
Liu Ji walked up, smiled and patted Wang Hao on the shoulder and said, "It's just an imperial examination article, don't worry about it."
Wang Hao said: "It is precisely because I, the officials of the Ming Dynasty, only remember the meaning of the scriptures and govern the country based on the scriptures, but I have forgotten that to rejuvenate the country and secure it, we should have a broad mind and worry about the country and the people. Nowadays, the local officials are in chaos, you On my way south, have I seen enough suffering among the people along the way?"
"hehe."
Liu Ji didn't know what to say.
Wang Hao finally put down the ink scroll and sighed: "If this man has such a broad mind, it seems that he will be a talented person in governing the country in the future. If the Ming Dynasty has more officials like this, it will be possible to revive the country."
…
…
At the door of Zhang Zhou's house.
The courtyard door was open, and Zhang Zhou was in the courtyard, giving Liu Gui a series of instructions. Liu Gui was holding a piece of paper with something like a map drawn on it, and was stunned for a while.
At this moment, Jiang Dezhong appeared.
"Wonderful son-in-law?" Jiang Dezhong came so suddenly that Zhang Zhou didn't expect it.
Zhang Zhou said: "Why are you here, father-in-law? Little noble son, take my drawings and go down first. I have something to do here."
"Okay!"
Judging from Liu Gui's face, he was finally free.
The Jiang family's carriage was parked at the door. Jiang Dezhong led a servant into the yard, and then Jiang Pingyu also hurried out from the stove. She saw her father coming to the door, and she was surprised and happy: "Father?"
Jiang Dezhong smiled and said: "I moved here from you, and I haven't come to take a look yet. I think today's lunch is to congratulate you on your move."
Zhang Zhou said: "Father-in-law, do you think we are happy to move here?"
"this……"
Jiang Dezhong was very embarrassed and thought, "Do you think it's easy to find a reasonable reason to come to see you?"
"Father-in-law is here, why do you need to bring something with you?" Zhang Zhou looked at the servant at the door, who was still unloading goods into the yard one by one, and said with a smile, "Father-in-law, you don't feel happy that you lost to me that day, and today you have another Come here and have a drink with my son-in-law?"
"Haha, that's what I meant, that's what I meant. Girl, don't be idle. Just prepare two dishes on the stove while Bingkuan and I have a drink."
