"I was too impatient. I wanted to make money, buy my land, and open a store in Guanyang to do business." Lu Xu pushed away the book Yan Junqi had spread out on the table and sat down in his old position. , supporting his chin with one hand and spreading out his small account book with the other, "The land price is too expensive now, I can't afford it, and the fried dough stick business is not easy to do. I plan to open a few acres of wasteland first, and I can plant some buckwheat after a while. You Help me think about it?"
Lu Xu kept mumbling, "If I had known, my two acres of land would not only grow vegetables but also millet."
Yan Junqi asked: "You don't sell fried dough sticks anymore?"
Lu Xu felt a little entangled again.
He managed to accumulate regular customers and finally established a foothold on East Street. "I still have to go, but I have to think about selling something else."
Food is too expensive and too much is consumed.
Yan Junqi asked: "Are you still selling snails?"
Lu Xu opened his eyes and calculated the cost. The snails cost nothing, and his family also paid a lot for the oil, salt and seasonings.
At this juncture, it’s a blessing that the prices of many spices sold as medicinal herbs haven’t increased much.
Lu Xu took out his piece of paper and started writing and drawing, thinking of his sesame paste.
The only happy things these days are that Liu Youzi finally made sesame paste and Aunt Three finally raised enough money to buy the cow.
Liu Youzi's sesame paste tasted more mellow than any brand he had eaten before. When he went to collect the sesame paste, he had some small problems-Liu Youzi didn't want copper coins.
Their paperwork was written, 150 Wen a catty of sesame paste, money is worthless now, but their paperwork was written in black and white, Liu Youzi's heart was bleeding.
He insisted that Lu Xu convert it into grain for him based on the market price when the document was established.
Lu Xu: "You didn't buy this sesame right now. Why did you lose money when you sold it to me for 150 cents?"
Liu Youzi quit: "Now a pound of wheat costs one hundred and fifty cents! One pound of wheat for me a pound of sesame paste? I'll give it to you at this price, and our whole family goes to drink northwest wind? Don't do it! You ask the Yamen to arrest me Catch him!"
He sat on the threshold like a fool, preventing Lu Xu from entering.
Lu Xu laughed angrily. He thought he was already thick-skinned, but he didn't expect to meet such a shameless person.
He didn't come in either, and rolled up his sleeves and had a quarrel with Liu Youzi at the door of their house. The two of them came and went and argued, and finally negotiated a compromise price: four catties of wheat for one catty of sesame paste.
According to the previous market price, Lu Xu made a profit, but Liu Youzi had sesame seeds and couldn't buy rice and noodles. Their family was running out of food. Both of them were quite satisfied and turned over their small ledgers in their hearts, but they had a look on their faces. With the attitude of "I'm so angry and I've suffered a big loss", Lu Xu brought 60 kilograms of wheat in exchange for 15 kilograms of sesame paste the next day, and everyone was happy.
It's just that Lu Xu originally planned to sell sesame paste cold noodles while the weather was hot, but now he doesn't plan to sell them anymore.
After much thought, he only had one direction left: "It's not easy to make Mala Tang on such a hot day, how about I sell cold dishes?"
Selling sesame sauce by the way!
After the plan was made, Lu Xu stopped thinking about it and carefully calculated on the paper how much food and wheat he had left for his family, third aunt, fourth aunt, grandparents, and Yan Junqi's family.
"You can't survive until the autumn harvest if you keep these. Well...you have to keep some for emergencies and for the New Year." Lu Xu drew a few more lines on the paper.
He picked up the paper like a ghost drawing a talisman. No one but him could understand it. As if trying to see a flower, he picked up the pen and added, subtracted, multiplied and divided to figure out how many fried dough sticks he could make every day: "Calculating like this, I will go there every two days." I can sell fifty fried dough sticks and cold vegetables during one visit to Guanyang. If I come back early at noon, I can still open up wasteland in the afternoon."
Lu Xu commented smugly: "I'm really a genius!"
He folded the paper and put it back into Yan Junqi's drawer. He didn't notice that his ghostly drawing looked like a chicken mixed in with the swans. There was also a three-folded letter underneath. He was leaning on his chin and thinking. How to get food together: "Tomorrow I will go to the county to buy some dried vegetables such as kelp, fungus, and mushrooms. There are beans and bitter gourds in my vegetable garden, and my third aunt has edamame, cucumbers, luffa, gourds, and courgettes. I will also get some wild vegetables and buy some tofu. I don't know. Do you want any copper coins from the tofu seller... Are you short of paper and ink? I'll bring you some."
When the cold salad is ready, let everyone in the family try it first!
Yan Junqi was silent for a while, then suddenly said: "I will go with you tomorrow."
Lu Xu: "Huh?"
Yan Junqi took out the folded letter from the drawer and said quietly: "Go and write."
Lu Xu was stunned for a while and didn't react. Submit a letter? What book? He has no memory of the concept of ordinary people submitting letters.
Lu Xu: "Who is the letter to?"
Yan Junqi: "Your Majesty the County Magistrate."
Lu Xu strengthened his composure: "Let me see?"
Yan Junqi handed him the letter.
From the ancient characters and old sayings, Lu Xu could barely guess the general meaning: Yan Junqi wrote a "Letter to the County Magistrate" to reflect on Zaoli's corruption in collecting grain.
He stared at it for a while, maintaining his illiterate persona: "What is this written about?"
Yan Junqi explained to him sentence by sentence, and Lu Xu was torn between Yan Junqi's courage and literary talent, not knowing what advice to give Yan Junqi.
He asked: "You won't be caught writing this, right?"
Yan Junqi: "Since I have passed the Tongsheng Examination, even if I fail to enter the government school, I can still write to the local parents and officials to remonstrate directly."
At the beginning of the founding of the country, the imperial court encouraged the people to express their opinions directly in order to recruit talents. Ordinary people could write directly to the emperor, whether it was to discuss politics, recommend themselves, or complain to the emperor. Recommendations can only be submitted to the central government, but the local government still retains Bai Ding's right to submit letters to directly remonstrate, but ordinary people don't know it.
Lu Xu didn't know. He felt that Yan Junqi was too courageous.
Only officials sue the people, how can the people sue the officials?
Lu Xu: "How about you give it to me and I can throw it into the county government office without anyone noticing?"
The wall of their county government house is not too high, and it is easy to climb over the wall.
Yan Junqi couldn't help but laugh. The depression of the past few days was gone, and he became clearer. He understood the subtext that Lu Xu might not have noticed himself: this book should be read, but Lu Xu didn't want him to read it out of worry.
Yan Junqi was even more determined to write: "I had the honor to meet the county magistrate once during the Tongsheng Examination last year. He is not a corrupt official who doesn't care about the lives of the people. Even if he gets angry, he will not do anything to me, a little Tongsheng."
Lu Xu: "People's hearts are so far apart, how do you know if he is pretending to be charitable? What if he is the Zaoli servants he acquiesces to? Even if he doesn't know, wouldn't they be more emboldened if they dare to do this blatantly without telling the county magistrate?" I don’t know who you’ve offended by writing this letter. You’re going to take the imperial examination, but what will you do if you’re wearing a shoestring?”
Yan Junqi: "If the court officials are like this, I don't care if I don't take the exam."
Lu Xu: "..."
He felt that Yan Junqi's extreme temper had to change.
Lu Xu caught Yan Junqi and tried to persuade him, "Just being right won't work. You also have to find ways. For example, if I did something wrong and Lu Zhou jumped out and accused me, even if I did something wrong, I would definitely want to beat him up." .Adults are very face-saving.”
Yan Junqi nodded and smiled: "Yes, so I wrote it very tactfully."
Lu Xu: "..."
Lu Xu recalled the paragraphs of Yan Junqi's article. He first analyzed the world's food shortage and the importance of Guanyang's geographical location and products. Then he listed data and examples to illustrate the hardship of people's lives today. He also praised the county magistrate's governance achievements. Finally Caitu Qiongdaodao saw the harm and abomination of petty officials who deceived superiors and concealed things from subordinates, and asked the county magistrate to take a closer look.
There is nothing wrong with the structure, Yan Junqi also characterized Zaoli greedy ink as a deception, and deceived the top, which has nothing to do with the county magistrate who is diligent in politics and loves the people. Lu Xu thinks he can't write such an article, but come on, Yan Junqi is flattering When it comes to complimenting people, it lacks a bit of pen and ink, and when it comes to criticizing and swearing, it's a bit ruthless. Although he didn't say a word about taxation being bad, between the lines, he said that repeated tax increases and layer upon layer of exploitation are forcing people to rebel.
He, a scumbag, understood the phrase "How can peace and order last?"
Lu Xu scratched his head and thought about it carefully. The daily grain price changes listed by Yan Junqi, how the people in Guanyang County couldn't buy grain, and how much copper money a tael of silver could exchange for a day were all said by him.
Lu Xu: "..."
If you ask, you will regret it. He has nothing to do. Why do he tell Yan Junqi this every day?
Yan Junqi stared at him, "I have been thinking for a long time whether I should write or submit this letter. I naturally understand how to behave in the world. If I haven't seen it, I can numb myself and pretend that I don't know. But since I have seen it, When I heard that, I could no longer deceive myself. What I saw and heard that day was like a huge stone falling into my heart. I tortured myself day and night. After reading so many books, if I can't pass the exam, would it be in vain? ?”
Lu Xu was speechless by his burning eyes.
"I was hesitant and wanted to burn it several times." Yan Junqi pressed his hand on the letter, gradually applying force, and the small fire in his eyes became stronger. "But after listening to your words today, I figured it out." He The whole person was carefree and carefree, his tone was passionate, and his speech speed increased, and the things that had been suppressed in his chest for a long time burst out: "A gentleman is worthy of heaven and earth, externally he is worthy of others, and internally he is worthy of his heart. If I don't do it, my heart will be uneasy. It's hard to calm down, let alone read the books of saints. If you do it, it will be a future at most. If I can't help the world, I will cultivate myself. At worst, I won't read anymore. I will just open up wasteland and do business with you. Maybe it will be more enjoyable! "
Yan Junqi leaned forward in front of Lu Xu, as if he wanted to get closer and give him his heart.
Lu Xu was stunned. His experience, intelligence, and thoughts were not enough for him to understand Yan Junqi's loneliness, anger, determination, and growing outlook on life and soul. But Lu Xu could feel the emotions bursting out of him. trust and honesty.
Yan Junqi was willing to show him her true feelings and her brains.
At this time, Lu Xu knew intuitively that he could not persuade Yan Junqi any more, otherwise he would betray Yan Junqi's wishes.
Lu Xu also thought about it. Isn't that just what making friends is? Who cares about the benefits and losses? It's enough to be happy if you are of the same mind! He was filled with enthusiasm and rolled up his sleeves: "There is more than one path to the future. Who said you can only study!"
He can't read!
"If you can't read anymore, I'll cover you!"
He could just get along as a cook.
Lu Xu raised his head and was full of pride. He lowered his head and looked at the spread out article. Thinking about Yan Junqi's clever mind, he quickly pulled back his mind and added: "You still have to read if you can. Everyone has his or her own abilities." "Chief, I am good at cooking, and you are good at reading, so you should use your strengths."
Yan Junqi smiled.
Lu Xu grabbed his article and said, "It doesn't matter whether he is right or not, since you want to write and if you don't feel comfortable, then go ahead and I support you."
He moved his chair next to Yan Junqi, "But you can't write like this. It's too straightforward. You have to change it. You have to praise people and then persuade them tactfully. I'll teach you!"
Yan Junqi listened to Lu Xu's advice. He would write what Lu Xu said and correct it on the paper. Following Lu Xu's wild and unconstrained nonsense, he would write a dignified and subtle splendid article.
Lu Xu: "We are truly lucky to be able to live in Guanyang and be under your jurisdiction. Our worship of you is like the endless stream of a river."
Yan Junqi wrote: "Under your rule, all the people feel even more fortunate."
After Yan Junqi finished writing a sentence, he read it to Lu Xu. If there was something Lu Xu didn't understand, he would have to explain it. When he quoted scriptures, Lu Xu's eyes were full of shock and admiration. When he cursed people, Lu Xu would join in. While scratching my head and scratching my head, I thought hard about how to modify it.
When the sky turned dark, Lu Xu went home for dinner and continued to stare at Yan Junqi with an oil lamp. While eating, his mind was filled with Yan Junqi's articles. He had never been so serious about writing his own articles.
Lu Xu thought that he was not yet eighteen years old, but he had a sense of deja vu as he was tutoring children with homework late at night.
His brain capacity was exhausted. He held his chin with his hand and dozed off little by little. After Yan Junqi finished transcribing the revised manuscript, Lu Xu was too lazy to go home. He seemed to arch to the bottom of the bed, then rolled to the inside and hugged the pillow against the wall and fell asleep.
The author has something to say:
Lu Xu: What did I say in the last chapter?
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