Chapter 114
"There are eight people in a group. The eldest and second brothers will each lead a group of people. How about a total of eighteen people?"
"They are all capable people selected from the martial arts school. Zhuang Qi is very satisfied with them."
Zhang Xiaotian and Zhang Xiaoxuan responded: "Those who come out of martial arts schools are stronger than ordinary martial artists. Since you and Zhuang Qi made the right choice, it must be true."
"Xiaoxuan and I have been thinking about what goods to trade recently. The most important one must be the silk from the village. If it is just this one thing, it would be too thin."
Zhang Xiaoxuan said, "The village is rich in products, and there are many things we can bring, such as poultry, local dishes... In the past two years, the salted duck made by the second aunt has been very popular in the guesthouse, and many peddlers come to the guesthouse to buy goods."
Zhang Fangyuan smiled and said, "That's good. Live poultry is not easy to transport, but fully cooked food is easier to store."
Along the way from Siyang to Suzhou, you will pass through some small county towns. Unlike Siyang City, which are generally prosperous and full of merchants, there are not many merchants who go out to do business all year round, and the county is in a closed state at times.
Anything new and novel was probably brought in by passing merchants.
For example, when a large caravan passes by, the goods they carry are all precious tea, porcelain, silk and the like. People in small places cannot afford them. Only the rich will take a little, but they don't buy much. Unless it is necessary, the large caravans do not like to go to small counties.
Their caravan mainly transports silk to Suzhou for sale, and this route requires passing through small counties. They bring some popular local dishes from Siyang with them, which they can eat on the way, and they can also sell the local dishes when they come across these small counties on the way.
"People in small towns cannot afford expensive goods, but they can still afford some local products." Zhang Xiaoxuan said, "In the past, these small peddlers often went to these small towns to sell goods, and small items were easy to sell."
"In a remote county town, people have to rely on peddlers to buy new things. Our local dishes will definitely sell well there." Zhang Xiaotian said, "The only thing I'm worried about is going to Suzhou to sell silk."
"Don't worry about that. Although Song Yong won't come to pick up the goods, the friendship we've had for so many years is still there. I've already written a letter. When our caravan arrives, Song Yong will send someone to meet us and introduce us to the silk merchants in Suzhou."
"Then there will be nothing to worry about."
The caravan had been planned long ago, so the team could be formed and set off quickly. It would be more cost-effective to go there before the autumn harvest and then go again after the harvest. At the end of April, the caravan set out from the inn in a mighty manner.
Zhang Fangyuan even went to the countryside to see him off.
In fact, he had nothing to worry about. Compared with the experience in shipping goods, his elder and second brothers were veterans and were much more familiar with it than he was. However, they used to be small peddlers, carrying their loads on their shoulders and traveling around the country. But now, their small team of two has become a caravan of more than a dozen people. The business they do has not changed, but the form has changed. Both of them look majestic when riding on horseback.
Seeing that the person had disappeared from the official road, Zhang Fangyuan went back to the village house.
Young Master Zhang Ruili specifically instructed that since we were going to the countryside today, we must catch two crickets and bring them back to entertain him. As the examination was approaching, his brother was so busy that he wanted to spend all his time on studying. The teacher also focused his attention on his brother and relaxed his discipline on him. He would take a break from his busy schedule and always think about having fun.
Zhang Fangyuan has always doted on Xiaolige'er. Unless it was a earth-shattering event, he would always meet Xiaolige'er's requests.
He played with these things a lot when he was a child, and he was very good at catching crickets. He could easily find them by looking for them in the fields in the village. In the past, there was a lot of sand in the Haitang Bay area, and you could often see them jumping around when we were reclaiming the land. It was at that time that we caught a few for Xiaoli to play with, and he became addicted to them.
Today, the fertile soil in Haitang Bay is managed by hired farmers and the crops grow luxuriantly, with little sandy land left.
When Zhang Fangyuan was wandering around the village, he happened to see the village school closing time. A group of children filed out of the school, jumping and making noise in all directions. In the early years when the private school was first opened, the students who attended were of different ages, but all of them were illiterate, so teaching them was not a big problem even though they were of different ages.
After a few years, the first batch of children no longer received education, and the students that Fei Lian beckoned to study also gradually became young children. The weather has been good in recent years, and the children of hired farmers in the village are occasionally sent to private schools to attend classes, where the tuition fees are lower.
"You have been following your father since you were little, but you can't even write a few words properly. You are almost old enough to take the imperial examination. If you continue to play around and slack off in your studies, I don't think you will even be able to pass the examination. It's better to lose your own face than for your father to be ashamed to see others!"
"The kid sent by the hired farmer to attend the school is about your age. He has only been in the school for half a year, but he can read and write more words than you. Tell me, have you learned nothing from all these years? I think your mother has spoiled you!"
Zhang Fang watched from afar as the students dispersed. Then, a familiar man in blue came out of the school with a boy who looked 80% similar to him. The sound of scolding could be heard from the classroom to outside.
The boy never spoke a word, and let his father scold him. When he talked about his mother, his expression changed, and he frowned and said, "Mom worries about everything for me, she doesn't spoil me."
"You've even learned to talk back! Is this the tutor of a scholarly family?"
"Uncle!"
The boy was about to argue with his father again when he looked up and saw a tall figure in the field not far away. He trotted over and called out.
Zhang Fangyuan nodded: "After school?"
"Um."
Fei Lian looked at Zhang Fangyuan and walked over slowly. Having taught for many years, he placed even greater emphasis on doctrine and etiquette. He greeted Zhang Fangyuan with a smile.
"Mr. Fei must be very busy these days. There are quite a few students in the village school, and the children's exam is coming soon."
"It's like this every year, so it's normal. This year, there are indeed more students of the right age to take the children's exam than in previous years. I remember Ruijin is also of the right age this year, I wonder if he can be used as a reference?"
Zhang Fangyuan responded, which surprised Fei Lian. He knew that Zhang Ruijin was a student under a scholar in the city. Whenever the child came back to the village during the holidays, Fei Lian would always want to test his knowledge to find out. However, the child was always silent and was dismissed with just a few words. His family also doted on him and was biased towards him.
It has been three or two years since I went to the city to learn, but I still haven't found out whether there is any real solution. However, Fei Lian felt that the boy had been unsociable since he was young. He could not cry when he was born, and he did not want to be tested after he was enlightened. It seemed that he would not achieve anything. This made him feel much calmer.
"I heard that Ruijin's teacher has only one student who can be used as a reference, and he has never taught a student before. If Ruijin is free, you can bring him back. I can teach him some experience of the Tongkat Ali Exam. After all, there are many students in the village school, and there are students who take the Tongkat Ali Exam almost every year."
"Thank you very much for your kindness, Mr. Fei. I will bring him back when I have time."
Fei Lian nodded and tugged at his son: "We're back."
The child obviously wanted to say a few more words to Zhang Fangyuan, but his father was holding him back, so he didn't dare to speak.
He looked back every few steps at the man in brocade clothes and with his hair tied up in a crown, his eyes fixed on him.
Everyone in the village said that his uncle was a low-key person, but every time he came back to the village, he could still see that his uncle was well-dressed and different from the other villagers in terms of how he dressed, spoke and acted, just like a crane standing out among chickens in a book.
His father always taught him that merchants were insignificant and although they looked luxurious, they were not respected or admired by others. He said that one had to study hard to have a future and become an official with power. Every time, he would bring up his uncle Zhang as an example for comparison.
Although his uncle's family was in business, he saw that they were not as bad as his father said. Both their reputation and status were second to none in the village. He also occasionally heard his mother talk about his uncle's establishment of a family business, which he found very fascinating. Compared to his father who wrote poems and lyrics every day and regarded a career in politics as a fantasy, he would rather run a business like his uncle.
If he had a lot of money, his mother wouldn't have to bother with his father's face anymore, there wouldn't be so many quarrels in the family, and she would have less hard work.
"What are you craning your neck to look at? Go back now."
…
The Tongsheng examination in Siyang City was held in mid-May, and the registration form was posted in mid-April.
In recent years, the country has been peaceful and the people have lived a stable life. Every year, more and more people are studying and taking the imperial examinations. As soon as the county government posted the notice, the ceremony room became bustling with activity, and people who wanted to register for the exam lined up outside the county government.
There are so many people and there are reasons for that. When the world is peaceful, the population will grow fast, and there will be more children of exam age. Moreover, there are those who did not pass the exam in previous years and will take it again. In general, the number of people is enormous. The Tongsheng examination is the lowest level of personnel selection for the imperial examinations. If there are few Tongshengs, then the number of people taking the imperial examinations at the next higher levels will definitely not be enough.
For this reason, there are many people taking the children's exam every year, but the pass rate is also the highest.
Zhang Fangyuan had brought Ruijin to register a long time ago. Although the father and son got up very early, they were still a little later than other examinees in the city. By the time they arrived at the county government office, they could only line up at the door. Most of the people queuing up consisted of one adult and one child, and of course there were also servants accompanying them.
Originally, the family could send a literate servant to register with Ruijin, but Zhang Fangyuan still wanted to come in person.
Looking at the long line of people ahead, Zhang Fangyuan frowned and said, "Next year, we'll get it earlier."
Rui Jin's eyebrows twitched when he heard this. He looked up at his father who was looking around. He said, "So that Dad won't have to work so hard next year, I deserve to pass the exam this time."
Zhang Fangyuan laughed. Ruijin rarely told jokes, so he was in a good mood. "Okay. I saw you were so focused on the registration this morning that you didn't even have two bites of breakfast. There are still many people queuing on both sides. I'll go buy you some more food. You wait here for a while."
After saying this, he went to buy breakfast.
Ruijin looked at his father's back and smiled.
The registration for the Tongsheng exam is quite tedious, requiring applicants to fill in their basic personal information and resumes for three generations. This is actually simple. Their ancestors were farmers, and it was only their father's generation that started to engage in business. The trouble is that you have to find four people who are also taking the exam. The five of them work together to prevent cheating in the exam. If one of them cheats, several people will be punished together.
In the past, some people were unlucky enough to be implicated because of the cheating of their mutual partners, so everyone attaches great importance to the character of the mutual partners.
This is not a problem for large private schools. After all, there are many classmates, and those who have good fun together can become friends. However, he was the only one in Ruijin's private school who could come to take the exam, so it was a bit troublesome to find a mutual partner. Since it was his first time taking the exam, the teacher was very concerned about it and arranged a mutual partner for him in advance.
While Ruijin was in a trance, he smelled a fragrance. He looked up and saw that his father had returned.
It would have been fine if I just went there to buy breakfast, but they even brought me a bowl of hot noodles.
Looking at the surprised looks of the people around him, he pursed his lips. If his father were here, Old Zhang would have been scolded again.
"I specially asked the boss to cook your favorite fish noodle soup." Zhang Fangyuan held the bowl and handed the chopsticks to Ruijin: "Eat it."
Ruijin saw that there were people eating noodles with bowls, and he took the chopsticks without caring that it was impolite to eat noodles in a crowd. The father and son acted as if no one was around, which attracted the attention of the little boy in the queue next to him. He asked his father for food and was scolded.
It took an entire morning just to register. Zhang Fangyuan came in person today to accompany Ruijin to register. One reason was that he really loved his child, and the other was that he was afraid that his bad reputation in the past would have an impact. However, he was worrying too much, as he had no recorded cases on hand, the county government was not very strict, and he had a good reputation in the city over the years, so there was no obstacle.
As the saying goes, clothes make the man, and saddles make the horse. After he changed his appearance, few people now remember that he used to hang out in the city.
When the father and son came out of the county government office, they were all sweaty. They had originally planned to take Ruijin to a restaurant, but after waiting in line and basking in the sun for the whole morning, it was really not appropriate for them to go out again, so they decided to just go back.
Zhang Fangyuan had just put the child on the carriage and was about to climb on when he heard a voice from behind: "Stop!"
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