Scroll A, Qi Luqing, Chapter 9, the first chance encounter
When Jia Yucun saw the two people rushing out of the alley opposite and coming to beg for help, he knew that the opportunity had come.
A wealthy family like this would not let outsiders in. Even if they knocked on the door, they might not be able to get shelter. Unexpectedly, two people took the lead and actually got permission to enter.
Although he felt a little regretful, Jia Yucun didn't hesitate at all. He ran up the steps as fast as he could, and motioned to his mother-in-law to take the little girl and follow her quickly.
Feng Ziying didn't expect that two groups of people would come out of this opening. How dare they use their own house as a shelter?
Both Feng You and Uncle Fu looked ugly, but this was not the time for hesitation. Feng Ziying was too lazy to say anything more. She waved her hand before the newcomers could speak: "Let them all come in and close the door quickly!"
Forget that the three of them couldn't do anything after that. A young man and two women and children, an old man and a young man. If the gangster was really so well-prepared to come undercover, he would admit it.
As the door closed with a creak, the group breathed a sigh of relief.
Feng You sheathed his sword and looked around at the outsiders with sharp eyes.
The person who had begged before now clasped his fists and bowed again, and then said sincerely: "Thank you so much for your help. Xue Jun has nothing to repay. If..."
Jia Yucun didn't say much, he just stepped forward and bowed slightly, cupping his hands in a salute.
Feng You glanced at Brother Keng, who was frowning and silent for a while, and then said in a deep voice: "Who are you and why are you here?"
"I am Xue Jun, a native of Jinling. I have been doing business for generations. I have heard about Linqing's reputation for a long time. I wanted to come to Qing to explore and see if there was a suitable business. I never expected that I would encounter something like this..."
Feng Ziying stood on the verandah and observed this middle-aged man, who was dressed in a gray silk robe. Although his speech was not eloquent, he was still polite and polite. It was obvious that he was not an ordinary businessman.
The Taizu of this dynasty was born as a merchant, and his discriminatory attitude towards merchants was much better than in the previous Ming Dynasty. However, after all, the idea that merchants were not allowed to go to the public hall was deeply rooted, so the gentry class still had innate contempt for merchants.
Jiangnan is a place where merchants gather. Merchants in Huizhou, Suzhou, Longyou and other places are quite powerful. Hui merchants and Shanxi merchants are also the two most powerful merchant gangs in the Great Zhou Dynasty.
"Where is your Majesty?" Feng You's eyes fell on the thirty-year-old young man in front of him.
He can be considered a person who has seen the world for a long time. He has been hanging out in the capital for a few years and has seen some big scenes. When he saw this person with sharp eyebrows and starry eyes, a straight nose and square cheeks, and an elegant and extraordinary demeanor, Feng You felt a little better.
.
"I'm in Jiahua, Huzhou. This trip was originally to send Dongweng's daughter to Beijing. I've heard for a long time that there are Suzhou and Hangzhou in the south and Linzhang in the north. I wanted to go ashore to have a look and buy some things. I didn't expect to see it in broad daylight..." Jia Yucun
Miss Lin's identity was not revealed, she only talked about herself.
Dongweng Linhai was the salt inspector of Yangzhou. He had a prominent official position and held the power of salt import. Although most of the salt in the north came from Shanxi and Shaanxi, water transportation along the canal was very convenient, and there were also many bold salt traders who secretly
Transport salt to Linqingzhou.
Although this family is not considered to be merchants, it is impossible to say that they have relatives and friends who work as merchants to make a living. If they knew about the relationship between the Lin family, they would inevitably cause unreasonable troubles for the Lin family.
My purpose in going to Beijing this time was to use the relationship between the Lin and Jia families to seek revenge, so naturally I couldn't cause any more trouble.
Feng Ziying was still observing the man named Jia, but she didn't react for a while. She also thought that this man was probably a scholar and had a bit of an official aura.
But I heard him talk about sending Dong Weng's daughter to Beijing. Among these people, there is Dong Weng. Could it be some official friend?
The Great Zhou Dynasty followed the Ming system, especially because Zhou Taizu's family was a merchant, so he paid more attention to scholars and started a new imperial examination from the beginning of the dynasty.
The county examination, government examination, township examination, and palace examination are basically the same as those of the previous Ming Dynasty. The county examination and the government examination are qualification examinations. Those who pass the government examination are basically scholars, and their status as scholars is confirmed, but they still have no chance of becoming an official.
The Provincial Examination is the most intense. After passing the Provincial Examination, people are promoted and their qualifications for official positions are established. Generally speaking, as long as you polish your qualifications a little, you can basically become an official.
Once you pass the examination, it will be completely different. Even the most destitute person can become a seventh-grade county magistrate. As for whether he can stay in Beijing and enter the Hanlin Academy or become a commoner,
Then it depends on opportunity and connections.
It was the custom of the Great Zhou Dynasty that non-Hanlin officials could not join the cabinet. In other words, those who had not been polished in the Hanlin Academy had no chance to serve in the most core cabinet of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Even if they could serve as six ministries or governors, it would be difficult to become a cabinet bachelor.
cannot.
Feng Ziying relied on the feeling left over from this body that she had been immersed in the Imperial College. She realized that this Jia Yucun was probably not just an ordinary scholar from a young age.
You can feel the momentum. Even in such a dangerous situation, you can still maintain your style. It's not easy.
"It seems that Mr. Jia is still a scholar." Feng Ziying said calmly.
Jia Yucun was also stunned. Although he knew that this young man was the owner of the house at the time, he was still a childish boy of only eleven or twelve years old. Under such circumstances, it was obvious that this vigorous and mature man should be the one to make the decision. Unexpectedly,
It was this young man who answered the call first.
"I don't dare. I have indeed studied for several years, but I have spent half my life wandering around. It's okay not to mention it." Jia Yucun didn't want to mention his past. He was really embarrassed to mention it. He was a Jinshi and was dismissed from office after one year.
It broke the record for the same year in this department.
"Then how to prove that you are not a gang of gangsters?" Feng Ziying did not let the other party go easily, at least she wanted to find out the other party's background.
Jia Yucun didn't expect that the other party would be so aggressive at such a young age. He was stunned for a moment and then said slowly: "The gangster brother in the city today should also know about it. If I was an internal agent of the gangsters, how could I bring a group of people with me?"
The old man and the young man come from a house of women? And I am afraid that I can hear my accent. I think all the thieves in the city today have a Lu accent. No matter how stupid the thieves are, there is no way they would choose to speak with such a Jiangnan accent.
Let an old man and a young man serve as internal agents?"
In fact, Feng Ziying never thought that these three people were gangsters. He just subconsciously wanted to know more about each other.
It's just that this guy is also very eloquent, and he has kept his relationship clean, but he makes it difficult for him to ask deeply about his origins.
"What about you two?" Feng Ziying turned to the other two people.
"The two of us are from Jinling. Linqing is a trade port in the North. We wanted to do some inspection, but we encountered something like this just a few days after arriving. We are temporarily staying at Huifu Building in Bixiagong Hutong. We planned to
I went to Guozi Lane and Ma Market Street to learn about the market, but I didn’t expect..."
The middle-aged man who called himself Xue Jun also had a graceful and calm demeanor, but lacked some bookishness, and to Feng Ziying, he felt more like a figure from a Jiuli shopping mall.
At first glance, these two people looked like a master and a servant. They claimed to be Jinling merchants, but Jinling merchants were not ranked among the Nanzhili merchants in Linqing. Hui merchants and Dongting merchant gangs were the leaders.
Needless to say, the Huizhou merchants are naturally from Huizhou Prefecture, while the Dongting merchant gang does not come from Dongting Lake in Huguang, but from Dongting Mountain in Taihu Lake. In particular, Dongshan Dongshan is densely populated and narrow, and Dongshan people move north and south and set up shop everywhere.
It has the reputation of "Zhuan Tian Dong Ting".
For a moment, I was not sure whether what the other party said was true. Although I was basically sure that the other party should have something to do with the thieves, I still couldn't let go because I didn't know the other party's details.
He always felt that the spirit of this businessman named Xue was different from that of ordinary businessmen. Although he might not have anything to do with bandits, he should be a character with some background.