Idle courtiers

Chapter 382 The future is unknown

Is this guy here to blackmail me?

In an instant, Zhou Nan had countless thoughts in his mind, and asked with a cold face: "Besides the military, what do you mean?"

Wu Xinhua took back the IOU, and said with a smile, "Don't be upset, Zimu, I will help you pay back the money."

Zhou Nan said angrily: "I don't know who the creditor is, and when did I owe him money. I can't just accept your love for such a nonsense thing. Outside the military, you have to make this matter clear today. "

Wu Xinhua didn't answer the question directly: "Zimu, listen first and finish. By the way, I have been in Beijing for more than a month, and I haven't returned to Huai'an yet. Do you know why?"

Zhou Nan: "Aren't you selling money? Recently, the imperial court got wind, and Yousi also paid attention to this matter. The new money is being minted, and all the old money collected will be melted. I guess you didn't get the customs clearance documents , That's why I can't stay, I want to ask this officer to help you find a way. Outside of the military, is this your attitude of begging for help?"

Wu Xinhua: "Sizheng, you guessed wrong. We already know that the imperial court pays attention to old money. If you dare to stand up to the wind, isn't that a dead end?"

"Then why?"

Wu Xinhua: "Si Zheng, have you forgotten? I was originally a salt merchant in Huai'an. Last year, the strict party ruled the government, and Yan Maoqing completely abolished the old quotations. Today, Zi Shengming, the strict party has been eradicated, and the officials on the Lianghuai salt road are up and down. But, as the saying goes, there is one emperor and one courtier. The new Governor of Salt Road naturally wanted to support his favorite salt merchants, but we old merchants were kicked away. The few of us Discuss to see if we can carry out activities in the capital and get back the share of Yan Yin that was previously deprived by the Yan thief."

Hearing this, Zhou Nan's heart moved. He had thought about cooperating with Li Wei and his son to produce salt before, but there were too many things to do, so he delayed it: "Oh."

Speaking of this, Wu Xinhua became excited: "I've heard people say that Si Zheng's family is Zhenglong, and it can be said to be very popular. With your means, if you can distribute some salt to attract it, all the salt merchants in Huai'an will accept it." Your love. Don't worry, Si Zheng, after the matter is completed, your shares will naturally be indispensable. This is also a little courtesy from us, to show our sincerity."

He unfolded the IOU, pointed to a line of writing on it and said, "Si Zheng, please look at this inscription."

Zhou Nan took a closer look, only to find that it was unusual. It suddenly read "Jiajing 41, Shuntianfu Juren Zhou Nan."

"This is..." Lord Zhou took a deep breath: "You bought the questions for the Shuntianfu Township Examination?"

That's right, this is the standard IOU format for fraud in the examination room.

When candidates buy questions, in order to prevent being deceived by the question seller, they generally do not give money directly, but put such an IOU, writing "XX Imperial Examiner XX owes money."

If you win the loan, the creditor will naturally come over with a note to urge you to pay.

If you don't have a high school candidate, you don't have to be afraid that someone who sells the question will blackmail you, because he is not a candidate, and this note does not have any legal effect.

"Yes." Wu Xinhua lowered his voice, and said in a voice that could only be heard by two people: "I'm waiting for a small profit, but a word from the government can stop us from doing this business. I'll come to a conclusion after discussion." Conclusion - there is no one at the top. Si Zheng is now a sixth-rank official of the imperial court and has been a pedestrian. Now he is valued by His Majesty, and it should have been prosperous by now. At that time, with Si Zheng to take care of him, I will wait for this business to succeed. Children and grandchildren will continue to do it.”

"However, the reason why your lord has not yet realized his ambition is that he does not have the honor of a Jinshi. A scholar is born with a lack of talent, and his prospects are limited."

"It's also a coincidence. I met someone who sold the questions of this provincial examination. I would like to contribute money and efforts for the adults. I just want to have a word with His Majesty and share some salt with me. In the future, Si Zheng will be prosperous, please Take care of me and wait."

Zhou Nan admired these businessmen a little bit. This situation really meant that later generations of American capitalists rely on elections to launch capital spokespersons. The merchants in Jianghuai are really ahead of their time!
The temptation to get the test questions in advance was simply irresistible, and the money was paid for by Wu Xinhua, so Zhou Nan was also a little tempted.

But after thinking about it, no, fraud in the examination room is a felony.Once found out, the person who missed the question will naturally lose his head.Naturally, the chief and deputy chief examiners will also suffer failures, and dismissal from office is naturally unavoidable.As for the cheating candidates, they will be dismissed from their merits and will not be allowed to take part in the imperial examination for life.

My old Zhou is living a good life now, isn't it good to live, why do you want to do such a thing?

Zhou Nan shook his head: "I understand the wishes of the soldiers, but a gentleman should take it from the straight, and don't ask the melody, so don't talk about it again. Just pretend that you didn't say it, and I didn't hear it."

Unexpectedly, such a guy who was single-minded and sycophant would say such a thing, Wu Xinhua didn't believe it, he thought Mr. Zhou was just pretending to put on a gesture, and he was still trying to persuade him.

Zhou Nan said seriously: "Besides the military personnel, I can't handle the matter of getting salt for you. You probably don't know that in the past, the transfer of salt in the two Huaihe Rivers was issued by the Department of Transferring Salt. Later, after Yan Maoqing went to Jianghuai, he took over the power. Return to the governor's yamen. The strict party is in place, and the court also feels that it is not appropriate to gather such power in one person, so it decentralizes the power to patrol the salt censor. I don't know the new Lianghuai patrol salt censor, and he will not give face. If you don’t get paid for nothing, please come back to the outsiders!”

If Wu Xinhua believed it, he would still come to pester him, but Zhou Nan ignored him and served tea to see off the guests.

In the evening, Wu Xinhua sent someone to send another letter, saying that the matter was very important, and asked Mr. Zhou to personally sign it.

Zhou Nan took out the letter and looked at it. It was very simple. There were three topics, all from "The Analects of Confucius", which were "Wei Jun treats his sons and governs", "Si Wuxie" and "The king's order is not as long as he is called."

Apparently, Wu Xinhua bought the questions directly with money, and if he came to cook rice with raw rice, Master Zhou must owe him a favor.From this, it can be imagined that the salt merchants in Huai'an were impatient because they hadn't got the salt for such a long time.

"Ah!" Zhou Nan let out a low cry, and the letter fell to the ground.

If these three questions were true, Wang Shizhen would have guessed two of them correctly.The teacher's ability is really admirable, unpredictable.

It seems that this topic is true.

It is conceivable that Wu Xinhua is not the only one who sells the questions.This kind of head loss is naturally a risk, so maximize the benefits.

Everyone is using cheating devices, but Mr. Zhou is still taking the exam!

Originally, Zhou Nan had strong confidence in his own exam, but after doing so, his future immediately became uncertain.

He picked up the letter, stuffed it into his sleeve, and shouted loudly: "Soybean, prepare the sedan chair."

Huang Dou: "Where is the lord going?"

Zhou Nan turned around and said, "Dao Lusi, hurry up. By the way, tell Mrs. Ru that I won't be coming back tonight."

(End of this chapter)