Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 541
November is Xinyou, the first snow has fallen, and the wind is getting colder.

Shuntian Prefecture, Daxing County, Huangcun.

A young man in thin clothes hurried back to the village with a simple wooden harpoon in his right hand and a crucian carp in his left hand.

"Brother Hou, did you go to Niantan to catch fish for your aunt again?" Old carpenter Wang at the entrance of the village greeted with a smile.

The young man called Brother Hou grinned: "Yes, Uncle Wang, it's almost Chinese New Year, and you haven't finished your work yet?"

"Hey, how can it be so fast? After the Jinghua Iron Works started up in the past few years, we people have eaten a few mouthfuls of food next to us. There is endless work. If the batch of plow rakes that the old man received this year In previous years, it would not be sold out in ten years!"

"Hehe, that's right. Uncle Wang has solid craftsmanship. The plow rake you made won't break after ten years!" The young man happily praised.

Old carpenter Wang laughed: "Brother Hou is worthy of being a scholar, and he speaks nicely. But it is strange to say that Jinghua Iron Works makes so many plowshares a year, can they be sold out? Don't stop doing it suddenly in the future, I will The old man has no place to eat."

Brother Hou shook his head and said: "Uncle Wang, Ren Jinghua has a strong background, so don't worry about it if you are old."

"Really?" Old carpenter Wang was a little puzzled: "How old are you?"

Brother Hou replied: "Jinghua's owner is the companion of Emperor Wanli. You should also know his uncle. He is the old Gaoge a few years ago, Mr. Gao Wenzheng!"

"Oops!" Old carpenter Wang quickly put down the plane in his hand, wiped his hands vigorously on his trouser legs, and cupped his hands towards the north: "Old Gao Ge is a good man, he is an upright official that Hai Qingtian has praised! Brother Hou, You don't know, our ancestors originally had seven or eight acres of land, but unfortunately they were taken away long ago. A few years ago, Gao Ge Lao sent someone to clear it... Was it called Qingzhang or something?
Anyway, Leng found out that the land was lost in the hands of our old Wang’s grandpa, and was blackmailed, and then I didn’t know what happened, the old man sent by Gao Ge called us over, and made up for it. Hey, Brother Hou, you are a scholar, tell me, why did such a good Master Qingtian leave so early? "

Brother Hou hesitated for a moment, and said: "I heard from Wanping's younger brothers that Mr. Gao Ge was overworked and exhausted from life to death."

"Ah..." Old carpenter Wang looked regretful: "This God is too short-sighted."

Brother Hou came back from catching fish just now, his trouser legs were still wet, and it was a little cold now, so he hurriedly said: "Uncle Wang, it's getting late, I'll go back and make fish soup for my aunt, you are so busy!"

"Go, go." Old Carpenter Wang waved his hands with a smile.After the little brother Hou left, he sighed and said to himself: "The life of the little monkey is also hard. Parents left early. An uncle who raised him for a few years also died. Now my aunt is also sick. If you didn’t try your best to win the exam, how can you survive?”

The door opened, but old carpenter Wang's wife came out, and said, "That's right, it's really pitiful, if it wasn't for his aunt's illness this year, maybe Brother Hou would go to the provincial examination, One of the Juren has come back. If he became the master of Juren, how could he be as poor as he is now? I heard that his family still owes six or seventy taels of silver?"

"That's right, it was the money spent on medical treatment when his uncle was here, and it was paid for at a profit. If he passed the Juren examination this year, the money would not be a big deal, but... oh, one granary, one How much lumi can I get every month, I'm afraid I can't even pay the interest."

Old carpenter Wang's wife said: "At least he is young, he is not yet 20 years old, such a young talent, people don't dare to force him? What if he wins the exam in the future?"

"That's not certain." Old carpenter Wang shook his head and said, "Their family borrowed money from the Duke's mansion. The Duke of the country may not buy the face of a scholar, even if he wins the election, although he certainly won't." I'm short of this little money, but I'm afraid I still have to pay back the money that should be paid back."

The old couple was talking, but a beautiful strange carriage came to the entrance of the village, and soon the carriage approached the yard in front of the old carpenter Wang's house.The second elder was wondering which master was traveling alone to Huangcun, but a half-old child jumped out of the car, who looked less than 15 years old.

The child smiled and cupped his hands at Old Carpenter Wang: "Excuse me, old man, is this Huang Village?"

Old carpenter Wang's eyes were not bad, and he caught a glimpse of a familiar mark on the carriage. It was two crossed swords, in a half-encircled shape, guarding a roll of bamboo slips in the middle—the so-called bamboo slips used by Jinghua last year. "Trademark", people in Jinghua call this "Jian Dan Shu Xin", while outsiders generally call it "Sword and Book".

This is a person from the owner's house, so we can't be negligent, old carpenter Wang hurriedly stepped forward and slightly bent over, and said, "I want to teach the young master that this is Huangcun."

The half-grown child smiled and waved his hands: "Old man, I'm not a little master. I'm just a bookboy of my master. My surname is Cao. You can always call me Brother Cao."

The book boy of the master!
The biggest official that Old Carpenter Wang has ever seen is just a censor who was sent to Qingzhang Tianmu last time. The owner of Jinghua just heard from Brother Hou that he is the nephew of Gao Ge, so he must be a high-ranking official. His book boy How can he be a country old man who dares to neglect, let alone call someone a little brother, so he hastily imitated the posture and bowed his hands: "Ah, it turned out to be the master sent by the master, the old man has neglected... I don't know why the master came here What are you doing?"

The half-old child was naturally Cao Ke. Seeing that old carpenter Wang called Gao Yushi his master, he didn't realize it for a while, and asked in surprise, "Why did the old man call my young master my master?"

Old carpenter Wang hurriedly said: "It turns out that the old man has overstepped. The old man is a carpentry contractor under the name of Jinghua Iron Works. He plows and rakes for the Jinghua Iron Works, so he takes the liberty of calling him owner."

"Oh...so that's the case." Cao Ke smiled, not bothering about these trivial matters, and asked: "Since the old man is a native of Huangcun, do you know that there is a son of Hou Gongchen in this village, who is the catering staff of this village?"

"Master Cao is looking for Brother Hou?" Old carpenter Wang was startled for a moment, and quickly said: "Yes, Brother Hou caught fish for his aunt just now in Niantan, and he just went to Laoshi's place, and his family lives in front of it. Near a big pagoda tree in the distance, Mr. Cao can’t walk all the way forward for less than a mile, just follow the road and turn a corner.”

Cao Ke said with a smile: "Thank you for your guidance, old man, then I won't delay you..."

"Master Cao." Old carpenter Wang hurriedly said, "Didn't you come to ask Brother Hou to collect debts?"

"Debt?" Cao Ke was startled: "What kind of debt?"

Old Carpenter Wang hastily explained Brother Hou's family situation briefly, and then said: "Brother Hou is very smart in his studies. Although he missed the chance of the provincial examination this year, he will definitely pass the provincial examination next time. If he owes money, It will definitely pay off in the future.”

Cao Ke's heart moved, but he said with a smile on his face: "Old man, you misunderstood. Not only did I not come to collect the debt, but I came to help Mr. Hou pay back the money. Don't worry."

Old carpenter Wang was skeptical, but he could only "believe it", nodded and said, "That's good, that's good."

Cao Ke didn't say any more, and thanked the old carpenter Wang slightly, then turned around and told the driver: "Remember the way, let's go, go to Mr. Hou's house."

When he got into the carriage, the carriage gradually went away. Carpenter Wang looked at the ruts that were gradually disappearing with some concern, and murmured: "Come and help Brother Hou pay the debt? Old lady, do you believe it?"

"Why don't I believe it?" Old carpenter Wang's wife said with a smile, "Perhaps your boss has a keen eye and knows that Brother Hou is a material for reading, so come and make friends in advance."

"It would be great..." Old Carpenter Wang sighed.

How did he know that Gao Yushi sent Cao Ke here, not only to help Hou Xiaoge pay back the money, but also to make friends, and even give him a big fortune?

(End of this chapter)