Time flies, and it is June in a blink of an eye.
The Japanese pirates who had been wreaking havoc in Ningbo Prefecture for a month finally stopped and retreated back to the sea.
All the counties in Ningbo Prefecture were affected, and people in each county starved to death to varying degrees. Only in Dinghai County did not a single man, woman, or child starve to death.
This was certainly due to the timely relief provided by the old county magistrate, but the righteous act of Xu Yan, the eldest son of the Xu family, in donating grain was also talked about and became a popular story.
This was all thanks to the county government for not keeping anything secret and writing notices about the whole process of Xu Yan's grain donation and posting them in various places in the city.
Xu Yan was still very pleased about this.
However, his good mood did not last long, because after the Japanese pirates retreated to the sea, his cheap father would also come back...
Xu Yan himself has no say in donating grain. Since his father is not at home, the decision-making power lies with Xu Chenshi.
Originally, Xu Chenshi didn't want to donate grain, but she was easily persuaded and finally agreed after Xu Yan's constant persuasion.
But when she thought about it afterwards, Xu Chen still felt a little painful.
You have to know that 3,000 dan of grain is by no means a small amount. Even if it were not sold at the price of 1 dan and 2 liang of silver that other grain merchants had agreed to during the Japanese pirates' rampage, even at the standard price of 1 dan and 8 qian of silver, it would still be worth 2,400 liang.
What is the concept of two thousand four hundred taels?
In Hangzhou, where every inch of land is valuable, a three-courtyard mansion costs only a few hundred taels, and two thousand four hundred taels can buy four or five such mansions.
From this perspective, it is no exaggeration to say that Xu Yan is a god-level prodigal.
But in Xu Yan's opinion, this deal is not a loss.
Firstly, his Xu family gained a good reputation, and secondly, he essentially accepted Magistrate Zhao as his mentor. As for the loss of over two thousand taels of silver, given the Xu family's strength, while it was painful, it wasn't a major loss. From a long-term perspective, this was a guaranteed win.
Of course, the next thing he had to do was get his cheap dad to agree with this.
That day, Xu Yan got up early as usual to study. He had just read a few pages of "Mencius" when he saw Shuangxi running towards him in a hurry.
"Master, something bad has happened. Master... Master is back!"
Hearing this, Xu Yan was shocked.
In his remaining memories, his cheap father was not as easy to talk to as Xu Chenshi. In other words, Xu Huaiyuan was a businessman through and through.
Businessmen naturally attach great importance to profits. Xu Huaiyuan certainly cannot accept Xu Yan's wasteful behavior for a while.
Although Xu Yan had simulated the scene of the father-son meeting many times, he was still a little nervous when the time really came.
"Oh, my headache is coming back."
Xu Yan is Xu Huaiyuan's only son. He thought that even if he had gone too far this time, as long as he pretended to be sick and looked weak, Xu Huaiyuan would not have the heart to do it, right?
Shuangxi cooperated and shouted, "Oh, the young master fainted again."
Xu Yanzhi wanted to roll his eyes. Now he couldn't help but lie down on the bed.
But just as Xu Yan lay down on the bed, he heard hurried footsteps in the yard.
Shuangxi, standing at the doorway sounding the alarm, looked over and saw a middle-aged man in a lake-blue Taoist robe and a square scarf on his head hurriedly approaching the main house with several servants. Who else could it be but his master?
In a flash, Xu Huaiyuan arrived in front of the main house. Shuangxi hurried forward and acted anxiously: "Master, you are finally back. The young master's headache has come back."
Who would have thought that Xu Huaiyuan ignored him completely, just sneered and walked towards the bed.
Although Xu Yan was lying on the bed, he was listening carefully.
Seeing that his father had an unfriendly look on his face, Xu Yan became angry and started coughing violently.
Xu Huaiyuan was filled with rage, and wanted to teach this prodigal son a lesson. However, he was confused by Xu Yan's cough.
It turned out that Xu Huaiyuan had been in poor health since childhood. Besides suffering from headaches, his lungs were also not in good condition. If he caught a cold, he would often cough for months.
No one knows a son better than his father. When Xu Huaiyuan saw Xu Yan coughing violently, his heart skipped a beat. How could he be angry?
"What's going on? Did you catch a cold again?"
Xu Huaiyuan sat down beside the bed, helped his son up, and frowned, saying, "You're already so old, but you don't know how to take care of yourself."
Poor Xu Yan pretended to cough while replying, "I...I was careless. Recently...cough cough, I was reading at night and it was a bit cold. I forgot to put on more clothes."
Xu Huaiyuan only has this one son, so naturally he loves him very much.
He had originally prepared some words to teach Xu Yan a lesson, but at this moment he couldn't say it at all.
"You kid, you're such a worry..."
Xu Huaiyuan tucked in Xu Yan's blanket and sighed, "Three thousand dan of rice were donated without a single word of notice to my father."
Xu Yan secretly complained in his heart, "You were far away in Hangzhou at the time, and the Japanese pirates were wreaking havoc in Ningbo. Even if I wanted to inform you, I would have to be able to contact you." Besides, if he had really asked for permission from my father, he would definitely not have approved it given his greedy nature. Only by executing first and asking later could we achieve the current results.
Although Xu Huaiyuan's tone was blaming at this moment, his anger had mostly dissipated. Xu Yan listened to it and was delighted.
Seeing that the time was almost right, he said sadly, "The Japanese pirates are rampant, and the grain merchants in the city are taking advantage of the situation to hoard grain and drive up prices. The neighbors can't afford to buy food and are starving. I couldn't bear it, so I donated 3,000 dan of grain, which will be distributed to the county government. I was inconsiderate on this matter, and I apologize to my father here."
Xu Huaiyuan shook his head and said, "It's not that I'm reluctant to give up this rice, but by doing this, you've offended all your colleagues. They thought they could make a fortune from this opportunity, but now that you've donated it, they can't even sell a bushel of rice."
Xu Yan thought to himself, "I'm not afraid of offending these greedy people. You can make money in any way you want, but you can't make money from national disasters. This is the bottom line of being a human being."
"That's what my father taught me."
Xu Yan admitted his mistake and said softly, "I've figured it out these days. I'm willing to study hard and get a good degree."
Xu Huaiyuan was stunned when he heard this, and asked in a trembling voice, "What did you just say?"
"My child will study hard and pass the imperial examinations to bring honor to our family."
Xu Yan said solemnly.
It turned out that this young master Xu was a typical landlord's son, completely clueless and uninterested in studying. Although Xu Huaiyuan had repeatedly hired him a teacher, he always drove him away. So, Master Wu was the fifth teacher the Xu family had hired.
"Oh, by the way, father, the county magistrate praised me highly for my grain donation and even gave me a courtesy name."
These words made Xu Huaiyuan's heart tremble.
"God, please open your eyes! My son has finally grown up! This grain donation is worth it, it's worth it!"
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