The rise of the poor

Chapter 216

Counting nine cold days, the north wind hits the face, especially at night, when the north wind blows, it is extremely cold, like a knife cutting.

Zhu Pingan, who had been feasting at Lu Ming all day, returned to his own room in the inn before the evening curfew, his breath was mixed with the smell of alcohol, and he was slightly drunk.Zhu Pingan once made up his mind not to drink alcohol, but at the Luming Banquet, there were so many big bosses who gave each other a cup, how could he have the nerve to eat vegetables there? !So although very restrained, but still unavoidable three points drunk.

After returning to the room, Zhu Pingan took a hot bath, changed into clean clothes, sat at the desk by the window and opened the "Biography of Xilu" presented by the mysterious old Taoist, and lit the oil lamp to read it.

Three points drunk, head a little heavy, hard to concentrate, Zhu Pingan covered the lampshade on the oil lamp and opened the window. The cold wind blew, and the feeling of being cut by a knife made Zhu Pingan instantly sober.

There are one hundred Hamlets for one hundred readers. Wang Yangming's "mind learning" thought combines the essence of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Because of hundreds of years of experience, Zhu Pingan saw it when he read "Biography and Xilu". An invincible method of "fighting against the sky, against the earth, and against the people", the core of which is Wang Yangming's eight-character motto: the heart does not move, but moves randomly.

"True knowledge is what you do, and what you can't do is not enough to know. This is for scholars to teach, and to do it."

In the middle of the night, snow fell into the window, and a young man reading a book by the window gradually sank into the book.

Early in the morning of the second day, Zhu Ping'an got up and finished washing. He carried his schoolbag across his shoulders and went out as usual with the black wooden board in his arms.The so-called "three nines in winter and three days in summer", the practice of calligraphy and learning emphasizes perseverance.

Counting nine cold days, practicing calligraphy and reading in the cold wind, but it has a special flavor.

Until the number of pedestrians coming and going gradually increased.Zhu Pingan collected the writing brushes, bamboo tubes, black wooden boards and other things, and Shi Shi ran out of the woods.In the store on the street, I ordered a bowl of duck blood vermicelli soup and had a breakfast with pancakes.

After breakfast, Zhu Ping'an walked to the pier outside Yingtian City with his schoolbag on his shoulders, planning to ask about the passenger ship going upstream to find out the situation.Yingtian's pier is also relatively busy in this weather, Zhu Ping'an went to the pier to inquire about the situation, and the people on the pier did not dare to neglect Zhu Ping'an's long gown.

After questioning, Zhu Ping'an got a general idea of ​​the situation. Ordinary small boats would not go upstream in this kind of weather. Only larger passenger ships and cargo ships would go upstream under the combined effects of sails, oars, and perhaps trackers.And the boat fare is three times more expensive than going down the river.

However, the owner of a large cargo ship took the initiative to contact Zhu Pingan. This cargo ship will set off upstream tomorrow morning, and it will go to the Bashu area. There is a part of the journey that coincides with Zhu Pingan's journey.

The reason why the owner approached Zhu Ping'an was very simple, it was to use Zhu Ping'an's identity.In modern times, we have roads and toll booths, and waterways also have toll booths. It was the same in ancient times. The ancient government also collected taxes on transportation. What was not enough was taxed on goods, business travelers, and ordinary people were not taxed when passing by.This large cargo ship passes through the Yangtze River to Bashu area. There will be several tax collection points on the way along the Yangtze River.However, the Ming Dynasty has regulations that do not accept the tax of Juren, and do not collect the tax of officials. That is to say, if the ship is a Juren or an official's ship, then there is no need to pay taxes, and scholars can also be exempted from taxes.The owner of this cargo ship took a fancy to Zhu Ping'an's status as a scholar, and wanted to use Zhu Ping'an's status as a scholar to be exempted from tax.

People in Ming Dynasty have the same thinking as our modern people, if you can pay less tax, you can pay less tax, and if you don’t take advantage of it, it’s not stupid.There are two main ways for them to evade taxes. One is a high-risk method, that is, pretending to be an official ship, disguising their own ship as the ship of a certain high-ranking official, and avoiding taxation, but this method has great risks. After all, you are pretending to be an official ship. Once you are found out, you will be punished, not to mention paying taxes. It is a serious crime to joke about pretending to be an official ship; another way is to find a juren, an official, a scholar Those who come to the ship and let them contact the tax collectors. Officials, recruiters, and scholars are all tax-free. It is justifiable and there is no need to take risks.Generally speaking, they can't find officials, and there are not many candidates. It is relatively easy for scholars, and they find Zhu Ping'an for the purpose of tax exemption.

"Thank you, Mr. Zhu. We will treat you with good wine and food along the way, and you will have ten taels of silver for your behavior. I hope you will accept it." When the shipowner heard that Zhu Ping'an was a new recruit, his attitude was extremely respectful. Ban made a promise to Zhu Ping'an.

After hearing this, Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but raise the corners of his lips, eating and drinking for free, traveling for free, and getting some consulting fees by the way, why not do it.

Besides, I have heard about this in my previous life, and it has become the practice of the Ming Dynasty, so why should I break the routine.

After making an appointment at the time and place, Zhu Pingan bid farewell to the boatman and returned to the inn.The fat man in the inn just woke up, and after hearing the news that Zhu Ping'an was going back to his hometown early tomorrow morning, the fat man dragged Zhu Ping'an to a restaurant to practice for Zhu Ping'an.

Zhu Ping'an is quite well-known near the Confucius Temple. This year's Enkenan Zhili is the youngest Juren. When eating in the restaurant, the shopkeeper asked the shop assistant to give away two special dishes of the restaurant for free.This made the fat man sigh, and vowed to study hard after returning home, and he must enjoy this treatment.

On the second day, before dawn, Zhu Pingan quietly left the inn with his bags on his back, walked along the Qinhuai River to the city gate, and rushed to the first batch of gates to let them out of Yingtian City.

The owner of the cargo ship waited at the pier early. After seeing Zhu Ping'an, he asked his staff to pick up Zhu Ping'an and board the ship.

This cargo ship should be regarded as a huge ship in Daming. After Zhu Ping'an boarded the ship, the owner of the cargo ship used a cleaned up room upstairs as Zhu Ping'an's bedroom, and asked the cook on board to cook a sumptuous dinner. The meal and the sealed red envelope were delivered to the room together.

"Thank you." Zhu Pingan cupped his hands and thanked the shipowner.

"Young Master Zhu, don't do this. It should be me who is thanking you. If there is a place where the hospitality is not good, you can just bring it up."

The owner of the ship hurriedly avoided his body, not daring to accept Zhu Ping'an's salute, and bowed to thank Zhu Ping'an.

Mutual benefit and reciprocity, Zhu Ping'an didn't insist anymore, thanked the shipowner and started to enjoy breakfast.

"My lord, if you need it, just go downstairs and call for someone." The owner also left with a wink.

Because the cargo ship has a high side and handrails, it is very safe. After breakfast, Zhu Ping'an went to the bow and held on to the handrails to enjoy the snowy scenery of the Yangtze River in winter.

Although the world is snowing, but because the Yangtze River is flowing, it is not frozen.

The cargo ship hoisted several large sails, and under the exquisite technique of the rudder master, with the help of the wind force, it rowed the word "Zigzag" upstream on the Yangtze River. Whitehead's mountains and more.

Facing the howling north wind, wearing a rabbit fur coat, standing on the bow of the boat and watching the mountains and forests pass by in front of his eyes, he couldn't help but feel a kind of impassioned spirit reverberating in his chest.

In this situation, standing at the bow of the boat, Zhu Pingan couldn't help but recited a poem:

On a good day and a beautiful day, the king sent me to patrol the mountain.

After sailing for three days, they passed a bank pass. Zhu Pingan got off the ship and showed his official certificate of identity to the tax officer on duty, and the cargo ship passed the bank pass smoothly.

Two days later, Zhu Ping'an disembarked, and his home was within easy reach.

When I left home, I was still busy with the autumn harvest, but when I returned home, it was snowing heavily; Ping An put his bags on his back and walked forward.

(End of this chapter)