Chapter 2: The Wind Rises from Zhongshan Mountain Chapter 48: Going to the battlefield
Today is the second day of August, and there are still a few days before the ninth day of the lunar calendar. Zhao Hao asked his father to have a good rest in the mountains, and he, accompanied by Gao Wu and Qiaoqiao, went down the mountain to purchase necessary items for the candidates to enter the examination room.
In the carriage going down the mountain, Qiaoqiao and Zhao Hao sat opposite each other, each leaning on her chin and looking at him with her head tilted.
Come to think of it, although both of them lived in the courtyard, today was the first time they met face to face in a month.
"Is there something on my face?" Zhao Hao touched his cheek.
“No.” Qiaoqiao hurriedly shook her head, turned her eyes to the window and said, “You are such a strange person. You are said to be indifferent to fame and fortune, but you are so concerned about the master’s studies. You are said to be keen on fame, but you are not doing your job all day long…”
"How can this be called not doing my job properly?" Zhao Hao stretched and sorted out the pile of manuscripts beside him. He also stayed at home for the past month. In order to kill time, he wrote down a lot of things. "This is the hope of revitalizing the Ming Dynasty."
"Boasting." Qiaoqiao turned back, fluttering her long, curled eyelashes, and asked crisply, "Have you ever thought about taking the exam yourself?"
"There is a joke ." Zhao Hao smiled and said, "A man bought a high-profile lecture in a bookstore. Someone asked him why he bought it. He said he wanted to take the imperial examination. The person laughed and said, 'You can take the imperial examination better than your father.' The man thought it was true, so he bought the book and gave it to his father to read."
“Hahaha…” Qiaoqiao was amused so much that she doubled over with laughter. She lightly kicked Zhao Hao with her toes and said, “Just go ahead and make up stories about Mr. Zhao. I’ll go and complain to you later.”
"Just go ahead and sue me. Anyway, my father's purpose in taking the imperial examination was just to let me enjoy wealth and honor." Zhao Hao boasted nonchalantly.
"Nonsense." Qiaoqiao didn't believe it. If it was about who was enjoying whose wealth, she felt that the father and son were more like the other way around.
As the two were talking, the carriage arrived at the Confucius Temple on the Qinhuai River.
As the autumn examination approaches, the shops on the street are filled with all kinds of examination tools and a wide variety of food.
Zhao Hao took Qiaoqiao with him and went to visit one shop after another, selecting the most exquisitely crafted copper kettles, door curtains, stove candlesticks, candle cutter roll bags, etc. He bought four of each item that could be found on the market.
Qiaoqiao was puzzled. Aren't there three candidates in the family? Why buy an extra one?
Zhao Hao replied: "Spare parts, just in case."
"It's just a waste of money." Qiaoqiao did not give a good review.
After loading the things he bought into the car, Zhao Hao was about to go home. Qiaoqiao reminded him, "Aren't you going to buy food for the exam?"
"We don't have to worry about that. Someone will definitely deliver it." Zhao Hao smiled and shook his head, looking very cocky.
…
When Qiaoqiao returned to Caijia Lane, which she had not seen for a long time, she saw Tang Youde’s cool carriage parked next to Weijixian.
"Hey, how did he know that we were coming back today?" Qiaoqiao was puzzled.
"There's a reason why they're doing so well in business." Zhao Hao jumped out of the car with a smile, asked Gao Wu to send all the things to Wang Wuyang, asked his two apprentices to sort them out, and then let Qiaoqiao go to the restaurant to say hello to Fang De.
He returned home empty-handed.
Although I haven't been home for a month, the house is still in tidy order. Naturally, someone is looking after the house and cleaning it.
Now, there are more than fifty people in Caijia Lane relying on Zhao Hao for their livelihood, and almost all of them have received rewards from him, so he does not need to give special instructions on these trivial matters.
Fatty Tang was sitting under the shade of a tree, drinking tea with relish. When he saw Zhao Hao push the door open, he quickly jumped up and said with a smile from the bottom of his heart, "Sir, I've been waiting day and night, and finally you've come back."
"Don't you have people watching you at the foot of Xiaocang Mountain every day?" Zhao Hao sat down on his chair.
Fatty Tang poured him tea and said with an apologetic smile, "Isn't it because you are afraid that you will need help? If you hadn't forbidden me to go up the mountain, I, Old Tang, would have been serving you there long ago."
"You're talking nonsense." Zhao Hao laughed, exposing Fatty Tang's thoughts. "I think you can't sit still anymore."
"Hehe, nothing can be hidden from you, sir..." Fatty Tang smiled awkwardly and nodded, "It's strange, sir. In the past month, the price of silk has only fluctuated around 350g, neither rising nor falling. The various chambers of commerce can't stop it, and many people have started to ship their goods."
"Those who know how to escape are smart people." Zhao Hao's smile faded and he said, "But I'm afraid that more people still can't control their greed."
"You are right, sir. Several chambers of commerce are buying in large quantities to support the market, which shows that they are still bullish." Tang Youde nodded.
"They can't beat those people." Zhao Hao saw an ant struggling to crawl on the smooth edge of the cup, so he gently flicked the ant away and said, "The price is not rising, which means those people are selling out. When they have almost escaped, the details of the opening of the market will be revealed to the world."
"Yeah." Tang Youde nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. He had seen the strange fluctuations in silk prices recently, and was afraid that they would rise suddenly, so he was naturally worried. He had to meet Zhao Hao and listen to his analysis, so that he could put his mind at ease.
After a pause, he reported, "By the way, sir, Mr. Liu has come to me several times, asking me why I haven't opened the factory yet?"
"The weather is too hot and no one is working. The loom that was agreed upon broke down, and you twisted your waist in a hurry to have a second child... Don't you have a lot of reasons?" Zhao Hao rolled his eyes and said irresponsibly.
"Sir, I already have six children..." Tang Youde said awkwardly, then smiled bitterly, "I have made up all the excuses I could, but is Mr. Liu so easy to fool? He has already found out that we sold the silk right away."
"I'm selling mine, what's his business?" Zhao Hao snorted disdainfully, "Once the silk is in our hands, we can deal with it. It's not like we won't return it to him when the time comes."
"But the young master doesn't play by the rules, so Mr. Liu is inevitably nervous."
"I just want to make him feel uncomfortable." Zhao Hao laughed and said, "Looking at his ugly face, don't you feel relieved?"
"Of course I feel relieved." Tang Youde couldn't help laughing and said, "Every time I leave him alone for an hour before meeting him. But I think he's getting angry, so I'm afraid he'll ask us to pay him back in advance."
"Impossible. It's written in black and white and stamped with a red seal. It means three months. Even if the lawsuit goes to Beijing, I won't pay him back in advance." Zhao Hao sat up straight and said to Tang Youde, "If you really have nothing to do, go to Xiaocang Mountain to escape the summer heat, and then ask a senior consultant to help you with some advice and come up with a preliminary strategy for rectification."
"I, I'll listen to you, sir." Tang Youde was just trying to avoid Mr. Liu, so he agreed immediately: "I'll ask a few garden experts to come over and take a look tomorrow."
"Okay." Zhao Hao stood up and said, "That's it. Don't bother me for the next half month. I have to concentrate on accompanying you for the exam."
"Okay." Tang Youde also stood up and pointed to a pile of things in the main hall and said, "That's the food I prepared for the master, as well as some commonly used medicines. I didn't know which ones would be useful, so I just brought them all at once."
"That's thoughtful." Zhao Hao had expected that Tang Youde would not come empty-handed, so he thanked him with a smile and sent him out.
After a while, two students came after hearing the news. They hadn't seen their master for a month, so they missed him very much. Zhao Hao also missed the two apprentices very much. He asked about their preparations for the exam. Knowing that they had already made up their minds, he didn't say anything more. The three of them divided the food sent by Tang Youde and selected the medicines to be used. Then Zhao Jin also came back from the government office.
Seeing Zhao Hao, Zhao Jin hesitated to speak. How perceptive is Zhao Hao? He smiled and said, "Duke Wei was fined."
"Hey, you're secluded in the mountains all day, how do you know about this?" Zhao Jin couldn't help but laugh, "It was the Imperial Censor Wu Shi who came to impeach him for many illegal things such as not teaching his son well. As a result, the Duke of Wei was reprimanded by His Majesty and fined two months' salary."
"It's just a drizzle." Zhao Hao smiled, thinking that in less than two months, the Duke of Wei would be fined because of the trouble caused by the Nanjing students. He even felt a little sympathy for this old man who even had trouble breathing .
"But now, he and his son have been honest for at least a year or two." Zhao Jin also nodded with a smile and said, "There is one more thing. I will tell you after the autumn examination."
"Yeah." Zhao Hao understood what it was as soon as he heard it, but with the Autumn Examination approaching, it was really not suitable to distract his attention any longer.
…
On the eighth day of the eighth month, Zhao Hao and his two disciples took Zhao Shouzheng down the mountain and first went to Jiufeng Temple to write the preface and hand in the paper.
This is actually to verify your identity in advance to reduce the burden when entering the venue tomorrow.
When they got home, the sun had not yet set, so the family had a light dinner without any meat. Wang Wuyang brought the examination basket prepared for his master and explained clearly where to put everything.
Tomorrow is the ninth day, which is the day to go to the battlefield. No one dared to chat, and after giving their instructions, they all went to bed early.
