Chapter 4 County Town (Thanks to book friend Joyii for being the first alliance)
After a tiring night, Zhang Yue woke up the next day and was excited for a while. When he walked outside the house, he heard Zhang Shi talking to Baozheng. He planned to entrust Zhang Yue to Baozheng and go to Yue's father-in-law's house in Jianyang to pick him up.
Return to sister-in-law and children.
But it is said that Jianzhou, where Pucheng is located, has three most famous things, namely Jianben, Jiankiln, and Jiantea. Zhang Shi’s father-in-law’s family makes a living by building tea.
"I'm going to Jianyang. I'll borrow some money from my father-in-law, so that this house can be sold as a mortgage."
Hearing this, Zhang Yue said: "Brother, the amount of money we still owe Zhao Yasi is not a small amount. Can the in-laws borrow so much money?"
"You don't need to worry too much about this," Zhang Shi forced a smile, "I also have the hands and feet, I can just return it in the future."
Zhang Shi is not that relaxed, and asking his father-in-law, wife and brother for help is not that easy, especially for a man's self-esteem.
Zhang Shi said with emotion: "When I bought this house, you were not born and I was still young. I grew up in this house. I watched my father studying in the north house and my mother raising our three brothers in the south house. I didn't want to sell it.
This is just to have something to think about. To take a step back, if the three of us brothers separate in the future, we will at least have a house to share."
Zhang Yue lowered his head and said: "Brother, why are you talking about dividing the family? I don't know where the second brother is?"
Zhang Shi said: "I know you blame your second brother in your heart, but no matter what, he has a share in this house. If we save this house, he will miss it. He will always come back to take a look in the future."
Zhang Yue asked in surprise: "Brother, are you saying that the second brother is not coming back?"
Zhang Shi shook his head and said: "I don't know that. I'm not anxious for him to come back. If he..."
Zhang Yue knew that his elder brother said that the second brother was coming back and was captured by Zhao Yasi's people...
Before leaving, Zhang Shi gave Zhang Yue some instructions, gave him half a drop of money, and hurried to Jianyang.
When Zhang Yue saw his brother leaving, he felt empty in his heart.
He was from a middle-class family, with a shop, property, and a house, but ended up losing his home. He suddenly remembered what he saw last night.
The next moment Zhang Yue said something to Baozheng and went out.
To go from Baozheng's home to the county town, you must pass the Shuinan Bridge over the Nanpu River.
The flow of Nanpu River is very fast. In the past, only floating bridges could be built on the stream. During the two seasons when the water surged in the spring and the summer rains were heavy, the only way was to float on the stream. After Chen Xiang became the county magistrate, he decided to remove the rocks in the stream and destroyed it despite strong resistance.
After passing several dams upstream, a bridge was built in the south of the city to facilitate people's communication.
This involved some political struggles. Officials such as Chen Xiang represented the will of the imperial court, which formed an opposition to local officials and powerful families.
When Chen Xiang was appointed as the magistrate of Pucheng, Fan Zhongyan, who was in charge of the central government at that time, was carrying out political reforms. Chen Xiang built the county school in response to Fan Zhongyan's call to start schools during Qingli. According to historical records, Chen Xiang built 300 schools in Pucheng and gave lectures in person, attracting countless students.
Hundreds of people.
Later, when Chen Xiang learned about Heyang County, he also paid attention to education and set up a county school to teach in person. At that time, Fan Zhongyan had already resigned, and someone immediately reported to the county governor Fu Bi that Chen Xiang's purpose in setting up a county school was to "lure the people of the city to pay for passing guests."
He advised Chen Xiang to tear down the county school to prevent defamation, but Chen Xiang countered by saying that those who purify themselves should be purified themselves, thus winning Fu Bi's appreciation.
In fact, the prefecture school and the county school were ostensibly to promote Confucianism. In fact, they were a means for the rulers to control the local area through education and control the channels for official advancement. Therefore, when setting up a county school, Chen Xiang once received praise from the village, but the other time he failed.
official.
The sun was shining brightly. When Zhang Yue walked to the bridge, there was a bridge pavilion to block the scorching sun.
The Nanpu Bridge is made of long strips of granite. There is a pavilion-shaped bridge house dozens of meters long on the bridge for pedestrians to take shelter from the rain and sun, and to rest and enjoy the scenery of the river. Such a bridge pavilion was used by Zhang Yue when he
It is very common when traveling in Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and western Fujian.
Zhang Yue was wearing a boy's shirt and walking by with half a pound of money in his waist. He saw vendors on both sides of the bridge house. The vendors were sitting on the ground and hawking along the bridge.
“Fresh mountain bamboo shoots!”
"The best snake medicine!"
"Baobao!"
“Fresh fish!”
"Selling red grapes!"
"Toad!"
The vendor puts the toads in an urn and covers them with a bowl. When customers want to buy them, they directly reach out to grab them in the urn.
The fishmongers were squatting aside. They tied the heads and tails of the fish with straw ropes to make a bow shape and placed them on the stall. The fish was still alive out of the water.
Those selling fruits and vegetables mainly sell sativa and mustard, while the snacks are mostly soups and cakes.
And red glutinous rice is the essence of all food. After adding these wild river fresh food into red glutinous rice, it becomes a delicacy suitable for Fujian people of all ages. There are also people playing snakes on the bridge, causing passers-by to scream.
Zhang Yue walked across the bridge, but saw sandalwood smoke curling up along the road. There was a shrine here, where many good men and women burned incense and worshiped.
After crossing the bridge, Zhang Yue arrived at the county seat.
There are three city gates in the south of the county. The south is called Nanpu Gate, facing Nanpu Bridge. The Longtan Gate on the left and right, and the Dengying Gate facing the Nanpu Stream. The soldiers standing at the gate are just checking the merchants entering the city.
For Zhang Yue who came empty-handed, he just took a look and put it in.
Zhang Yue entered the city this time because he had doubts in his heart because of Zhao Yasi's words last night. Judging from the expression and tone of Zhao Yasi's words when he said these words, it seemed that the other party was not responsible for burning down his own shop.
So Zhang Yue went to Chema Street where his shop was located.
Pucheng is the main road out of Fujian Province. After crossing Xianxia Ridge, you will reach Zhejiang. Generally, businessmen who want to leave Fujian will hire cars, horses and porters here, so it is called Carriage Street.
The Zhang family originally had a Yanli shop here to provide accommodation for travelers. The reason why it was called a Yanli shop was because there was an iron fence hung at the door of the shop. The iron fence is a kind of cooking utensil. Hanging it at the door of the shop means that the shop only houses guests.
The shop doesn't have a restaurant, but it does provide cooking utensils for travelers to make fire and eat.
The fire broke out in the middle of the night, and there were three groups of guests staying in the hotel at that time. After the fire, a lot of luggage and goods of the three groups of guests were burned.
One of the guests was a merchant from Zhejiang who came to Fujian to sell silk. It was said that he brought more than 300 pieces of Hu silk with him and burned it all to ashes. The next day, the Zhang family was sued by the travelers to the county. Finally, the county sentenced
My brother paid more than 200 yuan to three guests.
Zhang Yue arrived in front of his shop on Chema Street and walked around but found nothing.
Logically speaking, the fire starts from the kitchen stove, but in addition to a little money for burning firewood, our own Yanli store provides free cooking utensils for travelers to cook their own meals.
If there was a fire that day, and travelers from three families had access to the kitchen stove, it might not necessarily be their own responsibility, but the yamen would decide it that way.
Zhang Yue walked around for a few times but didn't find any clues. He was not very sure that he could judge the evidence just by sleeping?
Wouldn’t he become Sherlock Holmes?
Zhang Yue laughed to himself, gave up his plan to find out the truth, and walked aimlessly on the street. However, he didn't notice anyone following him at this moment.
As Zhang Yue walked, he thought of Zhang Xu, his second brother who cheated his younger brother.
The second brother is eight years older than me. As long as I can remember, I have always heard about the talents and learning of my second brother.
When Chen Xiang was appointed magistrate of Pucheng County, he established a county school and recruited talented people from among the people.
At that time, he read Zhang Xu's article and admired it very much, and also praised his good calligraphy. Chen Xiang decided to try it out personally, and was even more amazed when he saw his second brother's talent.
However, Chen Xiang wondered how Zhang Xu could write such an article at such a young age, so he wrote an article himself. Zhang Xu wrote it immediately. Chen Xiang believed it after reading it in the hall, and immediately stood up and left the case to invite him to his seat.
The Song Dynasty was an era where prodigies were respected, such as the famous Fang Zhongyong.
From then on, Zhang Xu not only went to school in the county, but also received no tuition fees. Chen Xiang once said to his colleagues: "This boy is very smart, bold and ruthless, and he can get fame easily!"
You must know that the appreciation of ordinary people, even ordinary officials, is nothing. No one cares about it, but this Chen Xiang is not an ordinary person. Chen Xiang is a Confucian master and is known as the Four Binhai Teachers.
It is recorded in the history of the Song Dynasty that he was famous for his ability to recognize people and recommend them well. He had recommended Sima Guang, Han Wei, Lu Gongzu, Su Shi, Su Che, Zheng Xia, Fan Chunren, Zeng Gong, Cheng Hao, Zhang Zai and other great figures.
.
According to historical records, Chen Xiang recommended thirty-three people. Except for one, all the others were famous officials with a master's degree. They were second only to Ouyang Xiu in the official circles of the Song Dynasty.
Because of Chen Xiang's evaluation, the second brother became famous and became a talented person in his hometown.
As Chen Xiang's confidant, Zhao Yasi wanted to get married to Zhang Xu, so he betrothed his only daughter to him in advance. After all, when Zhang Xu won the Jinshi in some year, and he wanted to come to ask for a hand in marriage, people would look down on you.
Zhang Yue never understood where Chen Xiang's evaluation of his second brother as "bold and tough" came from.
It wasn't until he was tricked that Zhang Yue was so impressed that he knew a boss was a boss and he was really good at reading people!
As Zhang Yue was wandering on the street, he was suddenly slapped on the shoulder. Zhang Yue looked back and saw a young man of about the same age as himself, standing behind him with his arms folded, looking at him with a smile.
Own.
Zhang Yue felt that he looked familiar, but he couldn't remember it for a while.
"Erlang, are you in the city? When will you come back to study?"
Zhang Yue searched his memory for a while, and then he remembered that the other person turned out to be his classmate and friend Peng Jingyi. There were a group of teenagers of similar age beside him, all of whom were his classmates.
Many of them were dressed in brocade and satin clothes, and behind them were book boys carrying bags for their masters.
Zhang Yue didn't think much: "I can't go back for a while."
Peng Jingyi grinned: "If you can't go back, you can't go back. What's so good about reading this crappy book? I don't want to read it for a long time. Let's have tea together today and reminisce about the past. I'll sit here for a while and none of you are allowed to leave first!"
Except for Peng Jingyi, the other students raised their hands and smiled and said, "We won't go."
Zhang Yue saw everyone smiling politely but with a touch of alienation, which was a rejection method familiar to scholars.
Isn’t it just a private collection of pornographic paintings?
The more Zhang Yue remembered, there were some pictures of ancient ladies, and the women in the pictures were all dressed in formal clothes. They were really not worthy of publicity. They were nothing compared to the teachings of Master Sanshang and Master Daqiao in those years.
Thinking of this, Zhang Yue suddenly thought that these paintings did not belong to him alone, so why did he bear all the blame in the end?
Of course, this matter was just a pretext, behind the pressure was Zhao Yasi. As the weakest person in the private school, the teacher did not like to see him.
In the past, relying on my brother's reputation, even if I didn't study hard, my tutor would not dare to say a word. Moreover, at that time, my family was rich and I spent a lot of money to show off to my classmates to regain my self-esteem that had been hit by others in my studies. As a result. There are many classmates who call him brothers, but they are all fair-weather friends. As for the classmates who are willing to study hard and make progress, they look down on him.
Now that Zhang Yue is in trouble and has offended Zhao Yasi, these fair-weather friends immediately draw a clear line. As for Xiang Xue's classmates, they will not pay attention to Zhang Yue at this time. I am afraid they are taking pleasure in others' misfortune.
"We have guests at home. Brother Peng, let's wait for another day!"
"My mother called me home for dinner!"
"The county school will make up for the enrollment in two months, so I don't dare to slack off."
"Brother Zhang, you are so busy, how dare you disturb me."
"There's no reason, I just want to go home."
Seeing this, Peng Jingyi was a bit confused, waved his hand and said, "You guys are so boring."
"Brother Peng, Brother Zhang, let's talk about it some other time."
After all the classmates bowed to each other, they left with their book boy. They laughed heartily as they walked, but no one looked at Zhang Yue.
Zhang Yue knew that he might not have been able to go to private school in the past, and his fate with these classmates would have ended here, and he might even go further and further in the future.
Zhang Yue withdrew his gaze and said to Peng Jingyi with a faint smile: "Brother Peng, let's talk about it some other time!"
Peng Jingyi said: "That's not possible. They don't have the skills, and you don't have the skills either? Let's go to He Tieseng's place for tea."
After saying that, Peng Jingyi put his arm around Zhang Yue's neck without any refusal. Zhang Yue felt warm in his heart, he was indeed a true friend.
He remembered that Peng Jingyi's uncle was a county captain in this county, and he heard rumors that he was at odds with Zhao Yasi.
Peng Jingyi lowered his voice: "Is the matter between your family and Zhao Yasi really over? Let's go have tea first and talk."
Zhang Yue still bowed his head resolutely and said: "Brother Peng is so righteous, let's wait for another day..."
When you are poor, you don't visit relatives. When you are in trouble, your friends won't dislike you, but you can't bring trouble to others either.
But when Peng Jingyi raised his fist as big as a sandbag...
"...Then it's better to be respectful than to obey!"
The two went to the teahouse where they used to frequent, and Peng Jingyi's book boy was sent back by him. Peng Jingyi always had a rich life. He usually browsed picture books, drank tea and fought with insects. On weekdays, his book boy was bossed around.
If he obeyed, he would be beaten, so he left without asking any more questions.
Although Peng Jingyi said that he has not yet engaged in prostitution and gambling, according to Zhang Yue, it will be a matter of time. In the past, when I was a classmate with Peng Jingyi, I always felt that you can play without working hard, why can't I?
Later I learned that even if his uncle, the county captain, did not study, he would not worry about his future prospects. He could do it too, but...
Before arriving at the tea stall, I saw a man under the water curtain banging a tea cup to solicit business.
As soon as the other party saw the two of them, he stopped singing and said: "Peng Daguan! Zhang Daguan, I haven't been here for a while."
Zhang Yue's mood is very complicated. He is a high-ranking official? I'm afraid he won't be able to bear this title in the future.
The name of this tea doctor is He Tieseng.
"I've been busy lately! Order two cups of good tea, and you won't be short of money for the tea."
He Tieseng laughed and said, "I rely on Peng Daguan to take care of me."
After saying this, He Tieseng took the tea set and was about to go to the stove to order some tea.
"What kind of water will be used today?" Peng Jingyi asked.
"This is the mountain spring water that was just brought in this morning. Can Mr. Xue put it in his eyes?"
"Reluctantly, reluctantly." Peng Jingyi said indifferently.
At that moment, Dr. He Tieseng, the tea doctor, was ordering tea. He first broke off a piece of tea cake and put it into the tea pot that was boiling water.
After the tea soup boils, He Tieseng scoops out a bowl of water from the tea pot and pours in the remaining tea powder, stirs the tea soup with a teaspoon, then sprinkles salt, and finally pours the "cold tea soup" he scooped out earlier into the tea soup to bring it to a boil.
After the tea soup boiled again, the aroma of tea filled the entire tea shop.
During this period, two singers came unannounced and wanted to have a drink. Peng Jingyi hesitated for a long time and let them leave.
He Tieseng poured the tea soup into the tea cup, then brought it to the tea table in front of the two of them. He scooped the tea soup out of the tea cup and poured it into the scalded tea bowls and presented them to the two of them.
Zhang Yue raised the bowl and took a sip. The tea was fragrant. It was a bit astringent at first when he held it in his mouth. Soon he naturally produced fluids. After swallowing, the tea was sweet and lingering.
The two of them sat down and kept chatting. At this time, Zhang Yuefang said: "I have a favor, please ask Brother Peng for help!"
Peng Jingyi said: "Oh? What are you busy with? Let me tell you first."
Zhang Yue said: "I would like to borrow the files on the case where my shop was burned down and take a look at it. Can you ask your uncle to accommodate me?"
Peng Jingyi glanced at Zhang Yue in confusion and said, "Why are you borrowing the files? Is it possible that you want to overturn the case?"
Zhang Yue replied awkwardly: "It's just a casual look. It doesn't matter if you can't borrow it."
Peng Jingyi glanced at Zhang Yue and said: "If you can't handle such a small thing, I won't let you look down upon it. Just come to the tea house to pick it up tomorrow. Yes, I heard that your brother has come to Beijing?"
Zhang Yue said with a chill in his heart: "Brother Peng, your information is really well-informed."
Peng Jingyi gave a thumbs up and praised: "It's a clever move to attack in the east and attack in the west! Let me tell you, as long as Zhao Asi can't find your second brother, he won't dare to attack you. What if he makes things difficult for you, just like he has ruined Chen Lingjun's face?
.”
"But having said that, if your second brother is caught, everything will be over. Doesn't Zhao Yasi have enough means to deal with people? As long as your second brother's hand is broken, how will he write in the future? But your second brother
Hiding without showing your face is not an option. You know what? I heard that early tomorrow morning, Zhao Yasi will send his confidants to Beijing."
Zhang Yue was startled and said, "Is it possible that there are people in Zhao Yasi's capital?"
If this is really the case, wouldn't he have harmed his second brother?
Peng Jingyi said with a smile: "It's not like a police officer has such great hands and eyes, but I heard that Zhao police officer hates your second brother so much that he will ruin his future at all costs. What about the people in Beijing? They still have to eat whole grains.
If you want to eat grains and grains, you will be short of money. As long as you are short of money, you will find a way out of nowhere."
Zhang Yue said: "I know that Brother Peng has great supernatural powers. Please help me find out the whereabouts of my second brother."
Peng Jingyi said: "You and I have been brothers for many years, and we just said "please". Now that I have said that, although your second brother's whereabouts are still unknown, you and your eldest brother should be careful. Don't go to the small roads where there are few people, and others will call you.
You have to be careful wherever you go, Zhao Yasi's men are poisonous."
Zhang Yue's heart trembled when he heard this, remembering that day he almost disappeared from the world.
After Zhang Yue left the tea house, he thought about Peng Jingyi's advice all the way, but his heart was in a state of confusion. There were also some traces of evil spirits as he walked along the way, and he looked at every passerby and felt that he did not look like a good person.
Returning from the city across the bridge, Zhang Yue decided to go home first and take a look.
Ps: Thanks to book friend joyii for becoming the first ally of this book!
