Prime Minister

Chapter 4 County Town (Thanks to book friend Joyii Shoumeng)

After a tired night, when he woke up the next day, Zhang Yue was excited for a while. He walked outside and heard Zhang Shi and Bao Zheng talking. He planned to entrust Zhang Yue to Bao Zheng, and went to Jianyang Yue Zhang's house by himself, saying that he was picking up his sister-in-law's child. .

However, it is said that Jianzhou, where Pucheng is located, has three most famous things, namely Jianben, Jianyao, and Jiancha.Zhang Shi's father-in-law's family made a living by building tea.

"I'm going to Jianyang, and I'll borrow money from my father-in-law, so this house can't be sold if it can't be sold!"

Zhang Yue heard the words and said, "Brother, the money we still owe Zhao Yasi is not a small amount. Can my in-laws borrow so much money?"

"You don't need to worry too much about this," Zhang Shi forced a smile, "I also have hands and feet, and I will return it in the future."

It is not so easy for Zhang Shi to help his father-in-law, wife and brother, 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, watching my father study in the north house, and my mother raising our three brothers in the south house, and I won't sell it. This is just to have a thought. Take a step back and say that in the future, the three brothers will be separated, and we will at least have a house to divide. "

Zhang Yue lowered his head and said, "Brother, what are you talking about splitting up the family? Where are these two brothers?"

Zhang Shi said: "I know you blame your second brother in your heart, but no matter what, he has a share in this house. We keep this house, and he has his thoughts. He will always come back to take a look in the future."

Zhang Yue asked in surprise: "Big brother, are you saying that the second brother is not coming back?"

Zhang Shi shook his head and said, "I don't know that either. I'm not in a hurry for him to come back. If he..."

Zhang Yue knew that his brother said that the second brother was going to come back, but he was also caught by Zhao Yasi's people...

Before leaving, Zhang Shi gave Zhang Yue some instructions, then gave him half the money and hurried to Jianyang.

When Zhang Yue saw his brother leave, he only felt empty in his heart.

A good middle-class family, the family has shops, fields and houses, but in the end, there is no home.He suddenly remembered what he saw last night.

Zhang Yue said something to Baozheng and went out the door.

To go from Baozheng's house to the county seat, one must pass the Shuinan Bridge over the Nanpu River.

The Nanpu Stream is fast-flowing. In the past, only a pontoon bridge could be built on the stream. In the two seasons when the spring water was soaring and the summer rain was pouring, the river could only be plated by boat.Later, after Chen Xiang was appointed magistrate, he decided to ditch the rocks in the stream and destroyed several dams upstream regardless of the resistance of the tyrants, so that a bridge was built in the south of the city to facilitate people's travel.

This involved some political struggles. Chen Xiang and other officials represented the will of the court, which was opposed to local officials and noble families.

When Chen Xiang was appointed as the decree of Pucheng, Fan Zhongyan, who was in charge of the central government at that time, was reforming the law.Chen Xiang built the county school, that is, in response to Fan Zhongyan's call to promote the school.History records that Chen Xiang built [-] couplets of schoolhouses in Pucheng, attended lectures in person, and attracted hundreds of scholars.

Later, when Chen Xiang knew Heyang County, he also paid attention to education and set up a county school to give lectures in person.At that time, Fan Zhongyan had left the field, and someone immediately reported to the county governor, Fubi, that Chen Xiang's purpose of running the county school was to 'to lure the townspeople to pass the time'.Some people persuaded Chen Xiang to demolish the county school for slander, but Chen Xiang retorted that those who are clear should clear themselves, and thus won the appreciation of Fu Bi.

In fact, state schools and county schools seem to be promoting Confucianism, but in fact it is a means for those in power to control the passage of official entry through education and use this to control the locality.Therefore, it is also the establishment of a county school. Chen Xiang was praised by the village once, but lost his official position once.

The sun was shining, but when Zhang Yue walked to the bridge, there was a bridge pavilion to shelter from the scorching sun.

This Nanpu Bridge is made of long granite piles, and there are pavilion-shaped bridge houses dozens of meters long on the bridge, for pedestrians to shelter from the rain and shade, and also to take a break to enjoy the scenery of the river.Such a bridge pavilion was very common when Zhang Yue visited the area of ​​eastern Zhejiang and western Fujian in Jiangxi.

Zhang Yue walked by wearing a boy's shirt with half a piece of money in his waist, but he saw that there were street vendors on the left and right of the bridge house, and the vendors were sitting on the ground and selling along the bridge.

“Fresh mountain bamboo shoots!”

"Excellent snake medicine!"

"Banana cloth!"

"Fresh fish!"

"Selling red grains!"

"Shrimp Toads!"

The merchants put the shrimp toads in an urn and cover it with a bowl.

The fishmongers squatted aside. They tied the fish heads and tails with straw ropes and placed them on the stalls in a bow shape. The fish that were out of the water were still alive.

Vegetables and fruits are mainly sold by glutinous rice and mustard, while snacks are mostly soup and cakes.

The red grains are the essence of all food, and these fresh food from the mountains and rivers are put into the red grains, and they are a delicious food for all the people of Fujian, young and old.There are still people in the heart of the bridge who act as bridges to get snakes, causing passers-by to scream.

Zhang Yue walked over the bridge, but saw the sandalwood smoke curling up at Luchong. There is a shrine here, and many good men and women burn incense and worship here.

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, the Dengying Gate is empty against the Nanpu Stream.The soldiers standing at the gate of the city were just checking the market merchants who entered the city, but for Zhang Yue who came empty-handed, he just glanced at them and put them in.

Zhang Yue entered the city this time because of what Zhao Yasi said last night, and he had doubts in his heart.Judging from Zhao Yasi's expression and tone of voice when he said this, it seems that the other party did not do the burning of his own shop.

So Zhang Yue came to the carriage and horse street where his shop was located.

Pucheng is the main road from Fujian to the province. After crossing the Xianxia Mountains, you will reach Zhejiang. Generally, businessmen who want to leave Fujian will hire cars and horses to hire porters here, so it is called the Street of Cars and Horses.

The Zhang family originally had a Shuli shop here, providing accommodation for travelers.The reason why it is called a fence shop is that there is an iron fence in front of the store.This iron fence is a kind of cooking utensils. It is hung on the door of the store to indicate that the store only lives in the store and does not sharpen it. However, cooking utensils are provided for travelers to make fire and eat.

The fire started in the middle of the night, and there were three groups of guests staying at the hotel.After the fire, the three batches of passengers' carry-on luggage and goods were burned a lot.

One of the guests was a merchant from Zhejiang who came to Fujian to sell silk. It is said that at that time, he brought more than 300 pieces of Husi, and all of them were burned to ashes.The next day Zhang's family was brought to the county with a lawsuit by a tourist, and finally the county judged his brother to pay more than 200 yuan to the three guests.

Zhang Yue arrived in front of his shop on Chema Street, and turned around to no avail.

Logically speaking, the fire starts from the kitchen stove, but in addition to burning a little firewood, the family's Shuili shop provides free cooking utensils for travelers to cook their own meals.

If it was said that there was a fire that day, all three families could enter and leave the kitchen stove, which is not necessarily the responsibility of the family, but the yamen sentenced it like this.

Zhang Yue walked around a few times, but he didn't find any clues, and he was not very sure. He could judge the evidence just by sleeping?

Don't you just become Sherlock Holmes?

Zhang Yue laughed at himself, gave up his plan to find out the truth, and walked aimlessly on the street, but at the moment he didn't notice that someone was following him.

While walking, Zhang Yue thought of Zhang Xu, the second brother of this pit brother.

The second brother is eight years apart from me, and since I can remember, I have always heard about the second brother's talent.

When Chen Xiang was the county magistrate of Pucheng, he set up a county school and recruited talented people from the people.

At that time, he read Zhang Xu's article and appreciated it very much, and also praised its good writing.Chen Xiang decided to ask the question in person, and she was even more amazed when she saw the second brother's talent.

However, Chen Xiang wondered how Zhang Xu could write such an article at such a young age, so he tried one for himself.Zhang Xu took the brush and immediately took it. Chen Xiang believed it after reading it in the hall, and immediately got up and left the case and asked him to take the seat.

The Song Dynasty was an era of respect for child prodigies, such as the famous Fang Zhongyong.

Since then, Zhang Xu has not only entered the county school to study, but also saved the money. Chen Xiang once said to his colleagues: "This child is very knowledgeable, bold and ruthless, and he can get fame and fame at his fingertips!"

You must know that ordinary people, even the appreciation of ordinary officials, don't care, but this Chen Xiang is not an ordinary person.Chen Xiang is a master of Confucianism and is known as the Four Masters of Binhai.

Song history records that he was famous for his knowledge and recommendations. Sima Guang, Han Wei, Lu Gongzhu, Su Shi, Su Zhe, Zheng Xia, Fan Chunren, Zeng Gong, Cheng Hao, Zhang Zai, etc., have recommended him. .

According to historical records, Chen Xiang recommended 33 people, except for one, all of them were well-known ministers with great scholarship, and they were regarded as Bole second only to Ouyang Xiu in the officialdom of the Song Dynasty.

Because of Chen Xiang's evaluation, the second brother rose to fame and became a scholar of the township.

As Chen Xiang's confidant, Zhao Yasi wanted to marry Zhang Xu, so he started betrothed to him in advance.After all, when Zhang Xu is a jinshi, and he wants to come to ask for relatives, people will look down on you.

Zhang Yue never understood where Chen Xiang's evaluation of the second brother's 'courageous and ruthless' came from.

After waiting until he was tricked, Zhang Yue admired him so much, the big guy is the big guy, it's really accurate to see people!
While Zhang Yue was wandering on the street, someone suddenly slapped him on the shoulder.Zhang Yue looked back, but saw a boy of the same age as him, tall and tall, standing behind him with his arms crossed, looking at him with a smile.

Zhang Yue felt that his face was familiar, but he couldn't remember it for a while.

"Sanlang, 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 party turned out to be his classmate and friend Peng Jingyi.Next to him were a group of teenagers of the same age, all of whom were his classmates.

Many of them were dressed in brocade and satin shirts, and behind them were schoolboys who carried sacks for their masters.

Zhang Yue didn't think much about it: "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 this broken book? I don't want to read it for a long time. Let's have tea together today, and I'll sit down for a while, and none of you are allowed to leave first!"

Except for Peng Jingyi, the other classmates smiled and said, "We won't go."

Zhang Yue saw everyone's smiles and politeness, but there was some alienation in them, which was a way of rejection familiar to scholars.

Isn't it just a private collection of pornographic paintings?

Zhang Yue remembered that they were pictures of ancient ladies, and the women in the paintings were all dressed in serious clothes, and they really couldn't get on the stage. Compared with the teachers who went to the third school in those years, Teacher Daqiao's teaching was nothing at all.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yue suddenly thought that these paintings were not his own, so why did he bear the blame in the end.

Of course, this matter is just a pretext, behind the pressure from Zhao Yasi, as the tail of the crane in the private school, the school teacher does not like to see him on weekdays.

In the past, with the reputation of his elder brother, even if he didn't work hard, the teacher would not dare to say a word.And at that time, the family was rich, and he made a lot of money to show off his face among his classmates to pick up his self-esteem that was beaten in his studies.As a result, many of his classmates called him brothers and sisters, but they were all friends. As for the classmates who were willing to study hard, they even looked down on themselves.

Now Zhang is getting more and more troubled, and he has offended Zhao Yasi. Of course, these wine and meat 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 more gloating.

"There are guests at home. Brother Peng, let's have another day!"

"My mother called me home for dinner!"

"After two months, it will be the county school supplementary record, so I don't dare to slack off."

"Brother Zhang, how busy you are, how dare you disturb me."

"There's no reason, I just want to go home."

Seeing this, Peng Jingyi couldn't hold on to it, he waved his hand and said, "You guys are so boring."

"Brother Peng, Brother Zhang, let's talk about it another day."

After the classmates bowed, they left with the book boy. Several people laughed while walking, but no one looked at Zhang Yue.

Zhang Yue knew that he was afraid that he would not be able to go to a private school in the future, and his fate with these classmates would come to an end, and maybe he would go further and further in the future.

Zhang Yue retracted his gaze and said to Peng Jingyi with a faint smile, "Brother Peng, let's talk about it another day!"

Peng Jingyi said, "That won't work. They don't have the skills, so don't you? Let's go to He Tieseng's for tea."

After speaking, Peng Jingyi put his arms around Zhang Yue's neck without being able to refuse.Zhang Yue's heart warmed, this is a true friend.

He remembered that Peng Jingyi's uncle was the magistrate of 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 true? Let's go to have tea first and chat while talking."

Zhang Yue still nodded firmly: "Brother Peng, Gao Yi, it's another day..."

People are poor and don't go to relatives. When you are in trouble, your friends don't despise you, but you can't implicate others.

But seeing Peng Jingyi raising a fist the size of a sandbag...

"...then it's better to be respectful than to obey!"

The two went to the tea bureau where they used to come, and Peng Jingyi's book boy was sent back by him.Peng Jingyi's life has always been rich. He usually browses picture books, drinks tea and fights insects. On weekdays, the book boy is called to and fro by him. If he doesn't obey, he will be beaten, so he doesn't dare to ask more and leaves.

Although Peng Jingyi said that prostitution and gambling have not yet been involved, according to Zhangyue, it is a matter of time.In the past, when I was a classmate with Peng Jingyi, I always thought that you could play without working hard. Why can't I?

It was only later that he learned that his uncle, the county lieutenant, had no trouble finding a way out in the future even if he did not study.I could have done it myself, but...

Before reaching the tea bureau, I saw someone under the water curtain beating on the tea cup to solicit business.

As soon as the other party saw the two, he stopped and sang: "Peng Daguan! Zhang Daguan has not been here for a while."

Zhang Yue's mood is very complicated, a high official?I'm afraid I won't be able to afford this name in the future.

This Doctor of Tea is named He Tieseng.

"I've been busy lately! Order two good teas, and you won't be short of tea money."

He Tieseng smiled and said, "I rely on Peng Daguan to take care of me."

After speaking, He Tieseng took the tea set and was about to order some tea on the stove.

"What water do you use today?" Peng Jingyi asked.

"It's the living water from the mountain spring that I just called in the morning. Can officials catch it?"

"Reluctantly, reluctantly." Peng Jingyi said indifferently.

When the tea doctor He Tieseng ordered tea, he first broke off a piece of the tea cake and put it into the teapot that was boiling water.

After the tea soup boils, He Tieseng scoops a bowl of water into the teapot and pours in the remaining tea powder, stirs the tea soup with a teaspoon, then sprinkles salt, and finally pours the 'cold tea soup' scooped out earlier into the tea soup to save the boil.

After the tea soup is boiled again, the fragrance of the tea has overflowed the whole tea shop.

During the period, the two singers didn't call in and wanted to have a drink, but Peng Jingyi hesitated for a long time or let them go.

He Tieseng poured the tea soup into the tea cup, and then brought it to the tea table in front of the two of them. He scooped the tea soup from the tea cup and poured it into the scalded tea bowl and presented it to the two of them.

Zhang Yue took a sip from the bowl, the aroma of the tea was fragrant, and it was a bit astringent at first, but after a while, body fluid was naturally produced, and after swallowing it, the taste lasted for a long time.

The two kept chatting after they sat down. At this time, Zhang Yuefang said, "Little brother is busy, please help Brother Peng!"

Peng Jingyi said: "Oh? What are you busy, let's talk about it first."

Zhang Yue said, "I want to borrow the case file of the case where my shop was set on fire. Can you ask Uncle Ling for accommodation?"

Peng Jingyi glanced at Zhang Yue doubtfully and said, "What are you doing with the file? Could it be that you want to overturn the case?"

Zhang Yue replied embarrassedly: "Just look at it casually, it's nothing if you can't borrow it."

Peng Jingyi glanced at Zhang Yue and said, "I won't let you underestimate such a trivial matter. You will come to the teahouse tomorrow to get it. Yes, I heard that your brother has come to Beijing?"

Zhang Yue sternly said in his heart, "Brother Peng, your news is really well-informed."

Peng Jingyi gave a thumbs up and praised: "It's a brilliant move! As long as Zhao Yasi can't find your second brother, he won't dare to do anything to you for a day. He embarrassed you, like swept away Chen Lingjun's face."

"But then again, if your second brother is caught, everything will be over. Does Zhao Yasi have less means to clean up people? As long as your second brother's hand is discounted, how will you pick up the pen and write in the future? But your second brother It's not a solution to hide and not show your face. You know what? I heard that Zhao Yasi will send his confidants to Beijing early tomorrow morning."

Zhang Yue was taken aback and said, "Could it be that there are people in Zhao Yasi Jing?"

If this is the case, wouldn't he have harmed his second brother.

Peng Jingyi said with a smile: "It's not like an arsenal can be so hands-on, but I heard that Zhao Yassi hates your second brother so much that he will ruin his future even at the cost of bankruptcy. What about the people in Beijing, who like to eat whole grains, If you want to eat whole grains, you will be short of money. As long as you are short of money, you will have a way if you don’t have a way.”

Zhang Yue said: "I know that Brother Peng has great powers. Please help to find out the whereabouts of the second brother."

Peng Jingyi said: "You and I have been brothers for many years, and you will be seen outside when you say a word. After speaking, although your second brother still doesn't know whereabouts, you and your eldest brother should be careful again and again. Don't go to places where there are few people on the road, and others will call. Wherever you are, you have to be careful, Zhao Yasi is poisoned."

Zhang Yue's heart froze when he heard the words, remembering that he almost disappeared from the world that day.

After Zhang Yue left the teahouse, he thought about Peng Jingyi's advice all the way, but his heart was up and down.Walking all the way, there are also some shadows of cups and bows, and when I look at any passerby, I feel that they are not good people.

Returning from the city across the bridge, Zhang Yue decided to go home first to have a look.

Ps: Thanks to book friend joyii for being the first ally of this book!
(End of this chapter)