198, worry
198, worry
After they walked away, Zhang Qi asked, "Brother, why didn't you go just now?"
"If you don't want to go, then don't go." Lu Mingfei said.
In fact, from the first glance he had just taken, from the way the man standing upstairs was dressed, he knew that he must be a young master from a wealthy or noble family. But he was just an ordinary person, and Lu Mingfei didn't want to have too much contact with the young masters of the wealthy families in Kyoto Prefecture.
He has been studying at the Imperial College for the past two years. Apart from a few good friends like Zhang Lingxuan, Ye Zhuoran, and Zhao Lang, he has no other close friends.
Instead of spending time on these interpersonal relationships, he might as well go to the library and read more books.
So he didn't want to make friends with strangers on the street. Who knows if the person he made friends with is a good person or a bad person?
After walking around the street and seeing all kinds of life, he felt a wave of emotion in his heart.
Thinking that he hadn't been back to the private school recently, and having some time today, Lu Mingfei took Zhang Qi back to the private school where he used to study, to find Mr. Fu and his senior brother Fu Boming.
Three people gathered around the tea stove to make tea, drinking tea and chatting.
When they talked about their upcoming provincial examination, Lu Mingfei even advised their teacher, "Sir, why don't you join us in the provincial examination next year?"
"If you and senior brother can pass the exam together, it will be a good story if both father and son pass the exam together." Lu Mingfei knew that their teacher had been studying all these years, so he could guess that their teacher wanted to take a further step forward.
It was only because of the pressure of supporting his family and livelihood that their teacher gave up the imperial examinations in recent years and opened a small private school in Kyoto Prefecture, collecting tuition fees to support his family and children. But in fact, their teacher was not too old, still in the prime of his life, and still had enough energy to participate in the imperial examinations and give it a try.
Hearing this, Fu Boming also persuaded his father: "Yes, Dad, why don't you come with us and give it a try next year?"
"Well... I'll think about it." Mr. Fu was actually a little tempted by his student's words. However, he didn't make a decision immediately. He had to worry about his students taking the county exam next year and his family's livelihood.
Mr. Fu was worried that because he would be attending the provincial examination next year, he would miss the lectures at the private school, which would affect the students' participation in the county examination next year, as well as the two subsequent academy examinations and the prefectural examination.
He is no longer the young man who could rely on his parents to support him and study peacefully. Now, he shoulders not only the responsibility of raising a family and children, but also the responsibility of teaching and educating students and the future of their students.
Therefore, once you make a decision, you must be extremely cautious.
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That afternoon, Lu Mingfei brought Zhang Qi back to the store from the private school, and his father also returned from outside the city.
After dinner, the father and son went to see his adoptive father together, and the three of them talked about the current situation outside Kyoto Prefecture.
After the door was closed, there were only three of them in the room.
Lu Mingfei lowered his voice and expressed his concerns. "Two years ago, floods and plagues killed many people in the south. Now, much of the land in the south is uncultivated and has become wasteland. The grain harvest there is definitely poor. I'm afraid the imperial court won't be able to collect the grain taxes there. I'm afraid there won't be any grain left in the treasury."
"It snowed so heavily this winter. I wonder how many people will die this winter. The snow is so heavy here in Dayan, and it must be even heavier outside the grassland. I'm worried about what the Hu people over there will do."
"Did you hear any rumors at the Imperial College?" Lu Qingfeng asked.
"No, that's just my personal speculation. But some students at the Imperial College have also mentioned this." However, Lu Mingfei's concerns extend far beyond this. "I'm more worried about the heavy snow this year. I'm afraid that when the snow melts in March or April next year, a large amount of meltwater will flow into the rivers, causing floods."
"Once there is a natural disaster, coupled with a man-made disaster..."
Having said that, Lu Mingfei paused and gave the two fathers a look that said, "You all understand, right?"
Hearing this, Lu Qingfeng and Lu Youtian looked at each other, with fear and worry in their eyes.
They had all heard about the floods in the south two years ago. If there were a flood in the north, coupled with an invasion by the Hu people, the world would be in chaos!
As soon as Lu Mingfei saw the expressions of his father and adoptive father, he knew that the two fathers understood what he said, so he suggested: "Father, adoptive father, after the New Year, we'd better keep the meat products produced in our workshop and don't sell them out yet. We should store more food at home."
"If nothing happens by March or April next year, it will be fine. If something does happen, we have food stored at home, so we won't panic."
The lands near the capital all belong to the royal families, and the harvested grains are also used by the royal families and are rarely sold.
Moreover, Lu Mingfei knew in his heart that based on the current grain yield per mu, there would not be much grain per mu of land.
Therefore, there is no food near the capital. The food of the entire Kyoto Prefecture, as well as some necessities of food and clothing, are all transported to Kyoto Prefecture from outside.
It can be said that today's Dayan is mobilizing the entire country's strength to support a Kyoto Prefecture.
If the harvests in the north and south failed, a famine would surely strike Kyoto. The royal families held land and reserves, so even if there was no food to sell outside, they wouldn't have to worry about running out of food. However, he knew those people wouldn't give up the food they held.
For ordinary people living in Kyoto, once the food stores outside closed, they would be out of food. When that happened, they would definitely be the ones who starved to death.
Lu Qingfeng knew this, and naturally knew his adopted son wasn't exaggerating. After a moment's reflection, he discussed with Lu Youtian, "Let's go to the grain store tomorrow to buy some food. If everything goes well after next spring, we'll keep it for the store. But...if anything happens in Kyoto Prefecture, this food will be our lifeblood."
"Okay, let's go to the grain store tomorrow and buy more food to bring back home." Lu Youtian's heart also became nervous.
Seeing that the two fathers had taken his words to heart, Lu Mingfei felt relieved.
They chatted for a while afterwards, saying a lot of things, and also talked about his preparations to take the provincial examination next year.
Seeing that it was already dark outside, Lu Youtian stood up and said goodbye to Lu Qingfeng, "It's getting late today. I'll take Mingfei back to Chunxi Road first. I'll come find you tomorrow morning and we'll go to the grain store to buy food together."
"Okay." Lu Qingfeng stood up and escorted the father and son out.
When they reached the door, Lu Mingfei stopped the two elders from seeing him off. "Foster father and foster mother, please stay. You don't have to see us off. Dad and I will go back."
"Okay, take your time and be careful on the road." Seeing that Lu Youtian and two other people were following his adopted son, Lu Qingfeng stopped sending him off.
Xu Yue Niang handed over the lantern in her hand and asked her adopted son and Lu Youtian to come to their house for tea when they were free.
Lu Mingfei took the lantern, smiled and nodded, then left with his father.
Following behind were Zhang Qi and Ji Kang.
After seeing his adopted son and Lu Youtian and his son leave, Lu Qingfeng closed the door to the backyard and asked his wife, "Where's that kid Mingcong?"
"After dinner, he ran to Sanniang's place to look for Mingrui. Those two boys acted like they had been apart for three years after not seeing them for a day. If Mingcong hadn't come out of my belly, I would have suspected that he and Mingrui were brothers." Xu Yue Niang smiled and shook her head.
"Let him go. They can't live without each other." Lu Qingfeng no longer cared about his son. Instead, it was their own son staying at home that gave them a headache.
It is also thanks to the Lu family for helping them raise their children over the years. Otherwise, the couple would have no idea how many gray hairs they would have had just from being angry with this kid at home.
After leaving the pancake shop, Lu Mingfei and his father went back to their own shop first.
It was already dark outside, and there were no customers eating in their shop. When they came back, his mother was cleaning up the shop with the servants.
Liu Sanniang put the remaining steamed buns and sesame cakes into a winnowing basket and said to Ruyi, who took the basket, "Take it to the back door. If there are people waiting back there, give these to them."
"Okay." Ruyi took the winnowing basket and turned to go to the backyard.
Lu Mingfei and his father walked into the store and just in time heard his mother instructing Ruyi to take the leftover food to the back door.
He knew that his mother would not allow anyone to deliver food to beggars at the front door during the day, but after the store closed, his mother would have someone take the remaining food in the store to the back door and give it to the beggars waiting there.
With their current ability, they can't do much to help others. They only have this little ability. They can't give more.
As soon as it gets dark, it's freezing outside. Those who wait outside in the middle of the night for someone to give them a bite to eat are all poor people with no other options. Anyone with a way to make a living wouldn't go out in the middle of winter and wait for someone to give them a bite to eat.
Knowing this, Lu Mingfei did not stop his mother from doing good deeds. However, with so many beggars in Kyoto Prefecture, he still had to remind his family to be careful when going out.
Hearing this, Liu Sanniang smiled and replied, "Okay, mother knows. Lately, I haven't dared to let your brother and Xiaobao and the others run out to play. As for you, hurry back to Chunxi Road. Tomorrow your father will go back to the courtyard over there to put up Spring Festival couplets, so you don't need to come here so early."
"Okay, then my father and I will finish putting up the Spring Festival couplets and then come to the store."
After talking to his father and mother for a few words, Lu Mingfei did not ask his father to send him back to Chunxi Road, but asked Ji Kang and Zhang Qi to go back there with him.
When he met Zhao Lang again in the evening, he told Zhao Lang some of his guesses so that Zhao Lang could be mentally prepared.
"Yeah." Zhao Lang nodded.
The look in the eyes of the two people looking at each other contained something that only they could understand.
If the world is in chaos, for Zhao Lang and other hostages in Kyoto Prefecture, it would be an opportunity to escape from the cage that has held them for many years.
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