Chapter 183 Unexpected Promotion
After the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, the heavy snow continued.
Su Ji changed from mixing coarse flour steamed buns with other ingredients to selling only coarse flour steamed buns, but the quantity dropped from 500 to 300, and each person only sold one per day. This was no longer a business at all, but purely a service for the elderly and poor people nearby who were unable to cook at home.
There is an episode when talking about why Su Ji has such a large amount of coarse noodles.
Because Su Yanli taught the youngest son of Prince Jin, he finally got a salary increase and three acres of land. The three acres of land was a bit far away, and Su Yanli had never been there. It was his clever daughter who went there every season.
When I went to collect rent this autumn, I was surrounded by villagers. It was the harvest season, and villagers sold their surplus grain, and even sold part of their food rations for their children's marriages. One family was afraid that their daughter would have a too meagre dowry after marriage, so they saw the owner of the field and asked the young lady to buy their coarse flour for their daughter's dowry.
Su Ruojin couldn't bear it, and secondly, her family's fields here had established good relations with the villagers, so she bought the coarse grains from the family at a price higher than that of small vendors. Unexpectedly, one family was attracted to another, and the villagers rushed to sell all the coarse grains they could to her.
There was no other way. Su Ruojin had to collect it all. Not only did he use his own mule cart, he also rented two mule carts to transport all the coarse noodles back, and he even set aside a room to store the coarse noodles.
Maybe this is what it means to be a good person and get good rewards! I didn’t expect to use it in the cold winter. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even have coarse flour to sell, so how could I help the poor people around me?
The more he sat on the warm and comfortable kang, the more he thought about the young lady. He always felt that in the heavy snow, it seemed as if her family had no money to eat and needed his help.
The heavy snow blocked the road, so Zhao Lan rode over to visit the young lady. His horse had been trained for mountain and snow riding. No matter how thick the snow was on the roads in the capital, it was always easier to ride than on mountains and hills.
When I passed by Su Ji, the shop was still open. There was a steamer at the door and a long queue was lined up in an orderly manner. Everyone got a black steamed bun and a bowl of boiled water, and took the steamed buns home warm.
The owner was very curious, so Shuangrui went to ask. After a while, he learned from Su Ji's waiter why they were still selling breakfast and where the food for making breakfast came from. He immediately told the owner everything.
Zhao Lan nodded, pulled the reins and turned around. Just as he was about to whip the horse, he pulled the reins in time, took a step with his long legs, got off the horse, stepped on the exposed stone slabs, and looked along the road without snow.
There is no snow on the road around Su Ji. Is it being swept all the time?
Shuangrui knew what his master wanted to know at a glance, and immediately went to Su Ji’s store to ask.
Zhao Lan looked up. The sky was gloomy and snowflakes were falling again. Before noon, the road would be covered again.
Soon, Shuangrui ran out of the shop, approached the owner, and whispered, "Feng Ershi said that salt should be dissolved in water and sprinkled once a day. Sprinkling once can last for a day. Young master, you see, the snow cannot accumulate on the ground here because there is salt gas on the ground and snow cannot gather."
Zhao Lan raised his handsome eyebrows. It turned out that the young lady stockpiled salt not for the shop's use, nor for private sale, but for cleaning the road. In this era of clothing and salt shortage, it was impossible to use salt water to clean the road without extraordinary knowledge.
He hadn’t seen her for a few days, and wondered if she had grown taller. He missed her very much, so he pulled the reins and said, “Gee…Gee…”
Shuangrui and others followed.
Hey, didn't the young prince say he was going to see the young lady? Why did he suddenly turn around and head towards the imperial city?
When he dismounted at the palace gate, he unexpectedly met Prince of Yan, Zhao Jing.
"Zijin——"
"Fourth brother."
Prince Zhao Jing of Yan knew that Zhao Lan had a special job and could enter the palace anytime and anywhere. The two of them handed their horses to the gatekeeper and chatted as they walked.
"I heard from the princess that your mother is looking for a future wife for you. Do you have any favorites?" Yan Wang Zhao Jing said with a smile, "How about I ask your sister-in-law to recommend one to you?"
"Thank you, Fourth Brother." Zhao Lan bowed, "But I have already told my father and mother that I will choose a wife after I reach the age of twenty. I will not consider it for the next six years."
Prince Zhao Jing of Yan looked as if he still wanted to see your mother.
Zhao Lan could only smile and say, "I'm not lying, Fourth Brother. Right now, I'm focused on doing a good job. I won't be in the mood to talk about marriage until I get rid of all the spies from Liaoxia."
Prince Zhao Jing of Yan smiled and nodded, "Zi Jin has great ambitions and is determined to serve the country. Fourth brother believes that I hope you can quickly root out those with bad intentions in Liaoxia."
"Thank you for your encouragement, Fourth Brother."
The two of them entered the Chuigong Hall together to meet the emperor.
Emperor Chengxi was in his early fifties, thin in appearance, with a goatee that was black with gray and showing signs of graying. After receiving the bow from the two men, he gave seats to his son and nephew.
"Why are you here, Jing'er?"
Zhao Jing was about to stand up and reply, but the emperor gestured for him to sit down and reply.
He sat down and saluted, "Father, the results of the two trial alleys where the tenants hired their own craftsmen to repair them were quite good. Most of them withstood the test of the heavy snow. Only a few individuals, in order to get the rent, colluded with unscrupulous craftsmen to do things in a shady way. But shady means shady, and they were all exposed after the two heavy snows."
The official stroked his beard and said, "Then when the snow stops, we will use the three-in-one method to repair all the damaged public rental housing."
Zhao Jing stood up: "Yes, father."
After asking his son, he asked his nephew, "Where's Zijin?"
Zhao Lan stood up and bowed, "Your Majesty, Zi Jin has been dealing with the Liaoxia people. When he has nothing to do, he gets to know their living habits. Suddenly, he discovered that Liaoxia is much colder than Bianjing. When winter comes, the mountains and fields are covered with snow, which can even drown people."
Emperor Chengxi listened attentively, "Zijin is right, how did they survive despite the obstacles of snow?"
Recently, many shops in the capital were closed due to heavy snow. Some of them were indeed affected by the bad snowy weather and had no supply and nothing to sell. Some merchants were not so honest. They took advantage of the closure of shops to stock up on goods in order to raise prices.
Zhao Lan replied, "It is recorded in the books that the Liaoxia people would use salt and water to melt snow. The snow would not easily accumulate in the places where the snow was melted because of the salt residue."
The emperor's brows not only did not relax, but they instantly knitted together, "What does Zijin mean?"
"Your Majesty, can you let the Jingzhao Yin and Wucheng Bingmasi also use this method to melt the snow in the streets and alleys, so that all kinds of shops can operate normally and there will be no situation where the people are out of food and merchants can't do business."
The emperor stroked his beard and said, "The price of salt is not low!" This was the main source of taxation in the Dayin Dynasty.
Zhao Lan raised his hand to his forehead and said, "Your Majesty, some unscrupulous merchants in the market have already started to raise prices, disrupting the lives of the people. It seems that the snow has not stopped. In ten or twenty days, the merchants will take the opportunity to raise prices and ask for exorbitant prices. When will it end..."
The emperor looked solemn, weighing the pros and cons. After a long while, he finally gave in and said, "I will give you an oral order to try it near the palace first."
Seeing that the emperor accepted his suggestion, he asked to leave the palace.
Since he was here, the emperor did not let his nephew go, "Have dinner with me."
Zhao Lan had no choice but to stay.
Zhao Jing also stood up to express his gratitude.
The two of them had lunch with the emperor.
The heavy snow would stop towards the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, but once it started it would be very heavy. In the poor areas of the capital, roofs of houses were often collapsed by the snow, causing casualties among the people. However, the shops on the streets gradually began to operate normally.
Shu Tong came back and told his young master in surprise, "I heard that the soldiers in the military also use salted water to melt snow. My dear, has our method of melting snow been leaked?"
Su Ruojin laughed: "This method is not very clever as long as you are willing to use salt. The court has so many politicians and think tanks for the sake of national economy and people's livelihood, and they can't come up with a small salt water method to melt snow? Uncle Shutong, please don't talk nonsense."
Shu Tong curled his lips, thinking that this method was brought up by his second wife. Never mind, if the second wife didn't recognize it, then she didn't. He then talked about another matter, "Your uncle is giving out porridge outside the city. I heard that he has been doing it for seven or eight days."
Su Ruojin asked immediately after hearing this, "Have the wealthy nobles in the capital set up stalls to distribute porridge?"
Shu Tong curled his lips again, "I heard from people that your uncle is really amazing. I heard that he was the first one who opened his own rice shop to provide free rice and flour to the elderly, the weak, the sick and the disabled every day when the road was blocked by heavy snow. You really are a family, and you all have good intentions and do good deeds."
“I’m paid.”
Shu Tong snorted, "You use this penny to stop those who want to take advantage of you, not to make money."
"Anyway, I'm not as righteous as my uncle."
My uncle is a man of both talent and character. He is truly a talented young man. How could he like... me?
Alas, what a pity.
Shu Tong saw the young lady's pity expression, and suddenly came closer to her gossipingly, "I heard some gossip, Second Lady, do you want to hear it?"
"If you have gossip, tell us now." Su Ruojin rolled her eyes in anger. She was bored at home all day, and she wanted to hear gossip the most to relieve her boredom.
Shu Tong glanced in the direction of the master's study, and then whispered, "I heard that your uncle set up a stall to distribute porridge, and right after that, Princess Yuehua set up a stall next to him, and said that they 'husband sings and wife follows'."
Su Ruojin: ...
Your Highness, have you not given up yet?
Oh my God, these three people... have been fighting for a year and there is still no result. Is it going to continue like this?
Su Dekai has been bedridden for two or three months. If the heavy snow had not blocked the road, he would have taken his wife back to his hometown in Pingjiang Prefecture long ago. "What a sin, what a sin..." The son whom he had raised with so much care actually disregarded everything for a man. If he had not threatened with his life, he would probably have taken the man to travel around.
Alas! In just one year, Su Qianshi had aged a lot, but the recent rumors brought her back to life, and her old face had a glow. "Master, it is rumored that Princess Yuehua likes my son. Do you think the emperor will grant them a marriage?"
Su Dekai was more clear-headed than his wife: "Unless the royal family doesn't investigate Yan Zu's past, as long as they do, not to mention marrying the princess, both your heads and mine will be in danger."
"Ah!" Su Qian's face, which had just brightened up, suddenly turned pale. "Then...what should we do?"
Su Dekai said, "I guess Princess Yuehua really likes your son. As long as she is willing to speak well of him in front of the emperor, our Su family may be able to avoid imprisonment."
Hope was raised and then shattered, and Su Qianshi became old and weak again, as if she had died once.
With the intervention of the court, shops in Beijing that had been closed due to heavy snow began to open one after another, including breakfast shops. When other shops opened, Su's shop closed.
The Feng brothers wanted to go home, and Su Ruojin advised them: "We finally earned some money, are you willing to give it to those robbers on the road?"
Feng Ershi was startled. "Why are there robbers?"
"What do you think?"
The two Feng brothers were very conflicted.
Su Ruojin added, "Besides, even if it doesn't snow, the mountain road you take home is not easy to walk on. Now that it's snowing so heavily, isn't it very dangerous?"
The Feng brothers were speechless after being told off by the young boss.
"Besides, you two young couples are together, so you have company. Parents and children, when the weather is better next year, I will let you go back and reunite."
The two brothers were finally persuaded by Su Ruojin to stay and live in Su's shop, waiting to go home when the snow stops and the road becomes passable.
This winter, due to heavy snow, everything was expensive. The Su family had already prepared everything and did not go out to buy anything. They stayed at home and waited for the New Year.
The academy outside the city has not allowed students to go to school again, but various schools in the city have resumed classes as normal.
Su Yanli also went to the Imperial College to report for duty.
Su Dalang and Xue Wulang studied together in his study. As Xue Wulang came frequently, Xue Liuniang, who often quarreled with the two young ladies Su and Yang, also came to play.
From her, Su Ruojin learned that one winter, Lord Xue brought a few craftsmen to build kangs for people and made some extra money. The Xue family's life became much better. From Xue Liuniang's tone, it seemed that Mrs. Xue's complexion was much better too, and she dared to speak and laugh loudly at home.
When Su Ruojin heard this, she secretly broke out in a cold sweat. This Madam Xue was too... what? No wonder Lord Xue could lose face in front of a young lady like her. He really had to lose face!
Su Ruojin was happy for Lord Xue that he could make money, and she was also happy that her neighbors were living well.
How does the saying go? Good people always get rewarded.
On the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, the day of the Little New Year, Su Yanli returned home from the Imperial College and told everyone a good news.
"I got a promotion."
Everyone was shocked.
Su Ruojin came back to his senses first and asked quickly, "Dad, what official?"
"Doctor of Taichang Temple"
Su Ruojin asked in confusion: "Is there a doctor in the Taichang Temple?"
Su Yanli rolled his eyes at his daughter, "You stay in my study every day, and you don't even know this."
Su Ruojin: ...She has never found it.
The Taichang Temple has officials: one Qing, who is of the third rank. He is the head of the Taichang Temple, in charge of rituals, music, suburban temples, and the affairs of the land and grain, and managing the various offices under the Taichang Temple. Two Shaoqing, who are of the fourth rank. They are the deputy heads of the Taichang Temple, assisting the Qing.
There are two chancellors, four doctors, six grand masters, two ceremonial officials, and two assistant music officials.
The Doctor of Taichang was an official of the Taichang Temple who was in charge of sacrificial affairs. He was in charge of ancestral temple sacrifices, rituals and music, and cultural and educational affairs.
Su Yanli was finally promoted from the eighth rank to the seventh rank.
It’s really not easy.
Su Ruojin asked: "Dad, how did you get promoted from the Imperial Academy to the Imperial Academy?"
Su Yanli: ...He doesn’t know either!
Su Ruojin thought of several possibilities and felt that all of them were possible. In the end, she simply decided not to think about it and said, "Let's have a good meal tomorrow to celebrate."
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