Idle courtiers

Chapter 383
"I knew that Si was coming, and the tea was already brewed. If you haven't eaten, there are refreshments here." When Shi Wenjiang saw Zhou Nan, he closed the door.

There are only Zhou and Shi left in the house.

Zhou Nan was amazed: "How did you know I was going back to the Daolu Division?"

"Shanren has his own calculations in seconds." Shi Wenjiang spread his hands: "Si Zheng knows, give me 100 taels of silver!"

Zhou Nan was even more puzzled: "Wen Jiang, I already know what, why do you ask me for money?"

Shi Wenjiang snorted, and peeked out of the house, only to see that there was no one outside.Only then did he lower his voice and say, "It's not because of the exam questions in Shuntianfu Township this year. My lord is really good at seeing and hearing."

Zhou Nan took a breath: "Even you know about this?"

Shi Wenjiang took out a letter from his sleeve and handed it over: "Si Zheng, please read."

Zhou Nan took it and tore open an envelope. Inside were three sentences: Great Yao is the king;

There are also three "Analects of Confucius" questions.

Then he smiled and said, "So this is the topic that Wen Jiang bought for me?"

Shi Wenjiang said solemnly: "Exactly, the fame of your lord is related to your future, and it is also related to your food and clothing. You must not be careless. I don't know how Si Zheng's craftsmanship is, and whether he can get the fame of Juren. However, Be careful and make no big mistakes. Do the questions quickly and memorize them by heart, so you can enter the examination room."

"This one……"

Shi Wenjiang was displeased: "Why, Sizheng is scared. You are not such a pedantic person in the so-called seeking wealth and wealth. Don't worry, this matter is very secret. Even if something happens in the future, it will be on the next shoulder, and it will involve you." Not above the head of an adult."

This has been said bluntly.

Zhou Nan smiled wryly: "Wen Jiang, I am not that kind of pedantic person. If there is a shortcut, I will naturally go. However, I always feel that there is something wrong with this matter. I have another topic here, you can read it."

After speaking, he handed the question bought by Wu Xinhua to Shi Wenjiang, and explained what happened before in detail.Finally, he smiled wryly and said, "Wen Jiang, Wu Xinhua bought the test questions, and you bought the test questions too. Your questions are different, and it's hard to tell who's true and who's not. You're not going to be deceived."

Hearing what Zhou Nan said, Shi Wenjiang was furious: "Si Zheng, are you doubting me? I bought this from a well-connected person in the capital, and I can trust that person. Ha, yes, Wu The exam questions outside the staff cost 1000 taels, mine cost [-] taels, did the secretary have the idea of ​​cheap but not good products first. You said that I was cheated, but if you are careful, you will be coaxed by others."

Zhou Nan smiled and said nothing, for his teacher Wang Shizhen, he admired him so much, and he absolutely believed in his skill in solving the problem.Two of the exam questions Wu Xinhua bought were the same as Wang Shizhen's. In comparison, he believed that Wu Yuanwai had more questions.If the guess is correct, Shi Wenjiang should have been set up by someone.

But... no... Zhou Nan's heart suddenly trembled, no, the seller didn't collect the money, but asked everyone to pay the IOU first, and then came to collect the money after winning the exam.If the test questions are fake, what good will it do him? Isn't that doing useless work?

This is strange.

Seeing the angry Shi Wenjiang, Zhou Nan said, "Don't worry about Wenjiang. I feel that something is wrong with this matter. I should be more cautious. By the way, who did you get this topic from?"

Shi Wenjiang: "A Juren who has been waiting for the examination in Beijing for many years, one of his relatives is the family member of the Tuiguan in Shuntian Prefecture. The county examination is hosted by Shuntian Prefecture, so it should be true."

Zhou Nan pondered: "Wenjiang, this person probably didn't just buy a copy of the test paper, you can go down and have a look. See who else sold this test paper to me. In addition, there should be other buyers. You can go to Wuyuanwai and find out who sold the papers in his hand." After speaking, he added one last sentence: "Especially at Wuxinhua, we should keep more papers. some ideas."

Shi Wenjiang: "Okay, it's really too late today, and my subordinates will go to investigate tomorrow, and Si Zheng can rest assured. This matter is of great importance, how can I let others know, I can do it alone."

It was very late at night, and after talking for a long time, Zhou Nan didn't feel sleepy, so he talked to Shi Wenjiang about Wu Xinhua's desire to get Yanyin to share with him.

Shi Wenjiang sneered: "My lord has such little knowledge, how can such a small amount of money be worth it?"

Zhou Nan was puzzled: "Why did Wenjiang say that?"

Shi Wenjiang: "Wu Xinhua's capital is small and the profit is thin. In the past, it was only [-] yuan a year. This time, he gathered a lot of small salt merchants in Lianghuai, at most a dozen of them. Master Zhou, if you help them, share If you get [-]% of the shares, it’s only two or three thousand per year, how much oil can you get? The dignified emperor’s close minister, the future son-in-law and captain, it’s ridiculous to have such a small vision.”

Zhou Nan was a little embarrassed: "Wen Jiang, don't mention it again if you are a son-in-law or not."

Shi Wenjiang: "According to the Gang Salt System of our Ming Dynasty, the merchants who hold salt are divided into ten classes according to the region. The Great Salt Field has 20 citations for the four principles. From the founding of the country to the present, I don’t know how many wealthy people have been created. The big salt merchants in Yangzhou City don’t have 80 to [-] citations, and some even have [-] citations. My lord is for a mere [-]% Shares, two or three thousand salts are really uneconomical. In my opinion, if you want to do it, you can do it yourself. Wu Xinhua and the others are only assigned to Si Zheng to run errands."

"Ah, what a word awakens the dreamer, Wen Jiang's words are very kind." Zhou Nan applauded.

Yes, it takes me the same energy and the same relationship to help Wu Xinhua and others go their own way, so why not maximize the benefits?
Zhou Nan's current income is very meager. There is only a pitiful monthly salary and his own funds in the yamen, which is not enough at all. Even the monthly salary of three taels has been withheld for four years.

He had to ask Xun Fang for all the expenses, which was really detrimental to his dignity as the head of a manly family.Fortunately, Wu Xinhua gave some hard-earned money from the sale of copper coins last time, so he was able to get out of the predicament.

He now has two sons, and Xun Fangyu saw that he was about to give birth.Zhou Nan feels that her fertility is too strong, and it is possible to have more than a dozen children in her lifetime.

Once these debt collectors become adults, they will ask themselves if they want a house, land, or dowry. Parents have to prepare for them in advance!
Speaking of this, some people may say that children and grandchildren have their own blessings, so don't look for horses and cows for your children.If they want to live a good life, they have to fight on their own.

It's easy to say, but who can say clearly about the future?

Zhou Nan has a reputation as a famous person, but his reputation comes from plagiarizing the poems of his predecessors. In terms of his IQ and reading and test ability, he is only average, and he is unremarkable among the ancients.Genes are not congenitally deficient, and he doesn't expect his sons to be promoted to Jinshi and become high officials in the future.

If I do well, and the court favors me, only one of Enyin's children will be an official, what about the rest?
Being a salt merchant is a good way out.

Zhou Nan had also mentioned the matter of selling salt in Lianghuai to Li Wei and his son before, and wanted to get them to do it together.

The Li family father and son seemed very tempted, but now, this matter can be carried out.

Zhou Nan talked about his thinking to Shi Wenjiang, and finally said: "Wenjiang, I have deep conflicts with the Li family father and son, but personal grievances belong to personal grievances, and interests belong to interests. There are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests. This matter can be done. After all, Yandao and Xunyan Yushi are both members of the royal family, and if you want to get through this way, you can't do it without them."

"This is what I plan to do. At that time, I will set up a business name, name my eldest son, and let my father-in-law and uncle come forward to get [-] to [-] yuan. At that time, the Li family and I will each have [-]-[-], and I will [-]% of them." [-]. As for Yan Yin of Wu Xinhua and others, I will do them a favor, and I will need their help in the future.”

The more Zhou Nan talked, the more excited he became, his eyes sparkled.

Shi Wenjiang shook his head: "This can't be done."

Zhou Nan asked in surprise, "Why?"

Shi Wenjiang: "The Li family and his son have been unlucky recently. They have enough self-protection. How can they have the energy to talk about Yanyin?"

Zhou Nan couldn't help but said: "Who would dare to provoke the dignified future patriarch and uncle? Anyway, we have to show some face, so we won't be unable to protect ourselves, right?"

"Just one person who can fix them?"

"Who, could it be King Yu?" Zhou Nan asked.

"No." Shi Wenjiang said, "It's Princess Li."

Zhou Nan: "If it's Princess Li who wants to clean up the house, then it's really hard for others to say anything?"

It turned out that this is the case.What the Li family and his son have done in the past few years has gone too far, and it has already aroused public indignation in the government and the public.

First, there was the Liaodong army horse case. Li's father and son filled their pockets with inferior goods, which caused the army in Bianzhen to boil. Then Li Gao and the Yan Party colluded to supply pig iron for military weapons.

A while ago, he also made gold and silver utensils for King Jing.

They didn't care, the Yan Party was the political enemy of the royal family, and King Jing was directly a contender for the throne of King Yu.

This pair of father and son are unprincipled, ungrounded, greedy villains.

Originally, seeing Concubine Li's face, the palace pretended not to see it.

However, the direction of the wind seems to have changed recently. King Yu has recently become infatuated with several concubines of Xinna, and the number of times he goes to Concubine Li is becoming less and less.His attitude towards her has also become unkind, and it is always a lesson.During the Dragon Boat Festival, the father and son of the Li family went to the mansion for a banquet. During the banquet, their words and deeds were inappropriate, which offended the prince.

The prince was not polite either, counting the bad deeds of the two of them, and ordered them to be kicked out.

Concubine Li also knew that she was gradually falling out of favor with King Yu. Fortunately, she was the only seedling who gave birth to a son, so her status could not be lost, but if her father and brother continued to mess around like this, her relationship with the prince might be weakened during the day.

So a strict order was issued to remove Li Gao from all his duties, and let the father and son face the wall at home and think about their mistakes, and they could not leave the house without her nodding.

After listening to Shi Wenjiang's words, Zhou Nan was also very helpless.As far as he knew, in the real history, the current Emperor Yu and the future Emperor Longqing were a sensualist, who loved the new and disliked the old.After ascending to the throne as the emperor, there is no love for women, and it is true that she does not love Concubine Li very much.Fortunately, within a few years of his reign, he died suddenly because of taking the elixir.Otherwise, if there is another prince, the son will fight for the position of heir according to the mother's dignity, and the Ming Dynasty does not know what will happen.

Obviously, Concubine Li also felt the crisis.

Don't look at Li Wei and Li Gao's father and son who are now domineering and domineering, and no one pays attention to them.In fact, their power comes from Concubine Li, and Concubine Li's power comes from King Yu, but in the final analysis it comes from imperial power.

Without the support of Concubine Li, they are just a mountain cannon, even worse than Zhou Nan.

It seems that it is useless to find them as a salt merchant, and it needs to be put on hold for a while.

Perhaps it will not be possible until Jiajing dies and King Yu ascends the throne.

The problem is that when that time comes, Li Wei and Li Gao will not necessarily be willing to cooperate with Zhou Nan if they have turned into relatives of the emperor.

Zhou Nan was very disappointed.

(End of this chapter)