Prefect Xiong Ling, who received a letter from his superiors for some unknown reason, studied the document for nearly a quarter of an hour. The corner of his mouth twitched, and a smile was hidden in his dark beard.
Prefect Xiong glanced at the newcomer from the corner of his eye, leaned back, put his hand on his bulging belly, and asked casually, "I remember you were the tutor of your Lord Wang?"
The attendant nodded with a smile: "Yes, I am your humble servant. You are so busy, but you still remember my face. I am really honored."
Magistrate Xiong lowered his head and glanced through the document again, then closed it and put it aside, lowering his eyes, not knowing what he was thinking.
The Lord Wang mentioned here is the chief official in charge of education in Nanzhili, who was assigned from the Ministry of Rites to Nanzhili for a term of three years. Lord Wang is not young anymore, having served in the Ministry of Rites for more than twenty years as a fourth-rank official. His current position in Nanzhili is just to save up some capital for retirement and return home to see if he can accomplish something and jump over the third-rank hurdle - Nanzhili is a vast territory, and the areas under its jurisdiction are all wealthy places such as Jiangnan and Huaizhou, which have always been a place of thriving learning and producing many talents.
Sending Lord Wang to be the academician is like putting political achievements at your fingertips.
The tutor who came to deliver the documents was a minor official who was often employed by Lord Wang.
However, the key point here is that matters such as delivering documents can generally be handed over to the official post station.
They would just stamp the document with sealing wax and send it as fast as they could, and would not bother officials to deliver it personally - no matter how high or low their official rank was.
When an official delivers a document in person, it generally means that the superior has an order that cannot be written on paper, and this order needs to be conveyed face to face.
"Paper for the autumn examination is a big business. It seems that Yingtian Prefecture used to find its own paper shop?" Prefect Xiong smiled and raised his head.
The attendant from the day before and the tutor today said respectfully, "Wasn't the former prefect of Yingtian Prefecture banished to Fengyang County?"
Even the emperor has his own ministers. When people leave, the relationship will naturally fade away.
What's more, if the chief officer doesn't leave, how dare the adjutant come and say hello?
Prefect Xiong nodded slightly when he heard this, and tapped the handle of the chair beside him with his hand on his big fat belly. "Logically speaking, we should do this job. It's my fault that I've always been dull and didn't know how to make progress. I've never had too many close contacts with my superiors, which led to many things that should be reported not being reported, and the work that should be done not being done properly. Now thank you for thinking of me, the governor. We in Xuancheng Prefecture will do our best to get it done."
The tutor pursed his lips into a thick tick-shaped line: This Prefect Xiong, implicitly and implicitly, cleared himself and the banished former prefect, and also expressed his respect and reliance on the academician.
Who said that his last name is Xiong, that he has a body shape like a bear, and that he has a temperament like a bear, silly?
Having laid the groundwork here and expressed loyalty, it’s time to ask something practical.
Prefect Xiong smiled and said, "It's just that Xuancheng Prefecture has everything, and there are the most paper-making workshops. The document says that we need to choose from two, which makes me feel troubled. If I choose the east one, I will offend the west one. Can you please give me some clear instructions, my dear reader?"
The attendant kept his expression unchanged. "Two days ago, our master came to Xuancheng Prefecture. It was said that a famous Pingtan actor from Suzhou Prefecture came to Xuancheng to sing a few songs. In the end, we only heard a group of scholars praising a shop called 'Xuantian'..."
Prefect Xiong acted as if he had suddenly realized something. "Oh, it's Mr. Chen! His son Erlang is still studying in Yingtian Prefecture, waiting to take the imperial examination in Beijing next spring!"
The attendant sighed, "Then the flood has washed away the Dragon King Temple. Family members no longer recognize each other, right?"
Studying in Yingtian Prefecture is equivalent to studying under the supervision of Wang Xuezheng.
Now that the first spot has been secured, it’s just a matter of who will be the runner-up.
Prefect Xiong calmly turned his hand over, wrapped it around the armrest of the chair, and said with a smile, "Speaking of Chen's, we also have Heng's in our mansion, which also makes good paper and is down-to-earth. It would be a blessing for them to show their faces in front of the academician."
The attendant bowed his head, smiled, and said nothing. He looked at the wall and shelves of books behind Prefect Xiong and sighed in admiration, "You were a successful candidate in the imperial examinations twice... It seems like that was more than 20 years ago, right?"
Prefect Xiong nodded and said, "The abdicated emperor..." He paused, "In the eighth year of Xuanwen, there were 27 Jinshi in the second class."
The attendant laughed again, "With all your knowledge and the books on your wall, wouldn't it be a great thing if there was a child beside you to tease and teach you?"
Prefect Xiong waved his hand, "...Don't mention it. The three sons in the family have not achieved success. How can they marry without establishing a career?" At this point, Prefect Xiong suddenly remembered something, stood up and poured a cup of tea for the tutor. After a pause, he changed his tone to a familiar and intimate one, "Speaking of which, the prefect does have a little boy now, who is now at the age of learning to walk. I'm afraid that his wall of books will not be saved."
When the attendant saw that Magistrate Xiong understood, he exchanged a few words of greeting respectfully and then left.
The smile on Magistrate Xiong's face retracted, and he was not very happy: "Just kidding, no one can be happy if someone is blocked by a teammate."
"Go, call Shopkeeper He over."
He wanted to use the name Xiong Youyou, but then he remembered that his niece was going to marry in Jing County after the first month of the lunar year, so he had to add, "Tell her to bring a few pieces of paper and say that the lady wants to choose a few pieces to write poems."
The servant went to go, but was stopped by Prefect Xiong, "Don't carry such a big load! How much can you carry with your small body? Just take a few small and exquisite flowery notes."
......
When the servant from Magistrate Xiong's house arrived, Xianjin was busy clearing out the stock. The self-service personal shopping model that was popular in later generations had achieved phased results - no one ran away from the order, and the goods on the booklet were basically consistent with the money received.
Why do you say they are basically the same?
Because there is a difference of about ten cents in the total price.
Yes, a dozen coppers more.
Lu Badan thought he had calculated wrong and was about to verify it again with counting sticks. However, as soon as he put out the small stick, it was taken back by a slender white hand.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!
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