Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 216 Eat and get cards
The one-month period will soon be over.

The large ships carrying students to Shandong turned back one after another.

On the big ship, Zhou Jin sat on the deck, holding a book in his left hand and dry food in his right hand, studying the principles.

As the saying goes, sharpening your sword before battle will make it shine even if it is not bright.

However, the more he looked, the more confused he became, and his head felt dizzy.

Suddenly, a man walked up from behind. Zhou Jin turned around and saw that it was the middle-aged scholar who brought him here.

His name was Wang Neng.

"Brother Zhou, isn't it a little late to read these now?" Wang Neng joked softly, pressing down the book with a smile.

"It's a little late, but it's better than not having any hope." Zhou Jin stood up and looked at Wang Neng and replied.

"You are wrong. The more you read this kind of book, the more confused you become."

"Oh, please give me some advice, Brother Zhou."

"I dare not teach you, but I have some gossip." Wang Neng smiled and waved his hand, then leaned close to Zhou Jin's ear and smiled mysteriously, "Most of the content of this exam is not from the Four Books and Five Classics."

"Ah? Then what should we take?" Zhou Jin was surprised.

If he doesn't learn from here, wouldn't he have learned it in vain?

"I don't know either," Wang Neng shook his head and analyzed, "But most of the Four Books and Five Classics will not be taken very much. Think about it, a few days ago, Zhang Shidu's subordinates had a big fight with the Kong family."

"Then a new school was established, which seemed to have its own power. When recruiting officials today, most of them should be selected for their knowledge of 'practical application'."

"Practice it in the world?" Zhou Jin seemed to understand, but finally put down the sage knowledge in his hands.

Large ships came to the shore one after another, and the new students looked at the prosperous Songjiang Prefecture and were dumbfounded. There were wide streets, tall attics, and mountains of merchant ship cargo on the docks.

Just as they came in, one ship after another sailed out, and then more ships sailed in.

The entire sea is filled with ships of all sizes.

Zhou Jin, like most people, was so shocked that his mouth opened wide, with a look of astonishment on his face. Is this Songjiang Prefecture?
This grand occasion is probably not inferior to that of Linqing.

Zhou Jin swallowed his saliva, suppressed his inner excitement, and followed the students to get off the boat.

In Huating County at this time.

Zhang Yunxiu was sitting in the magistrate's duty room, while magistrate Wei Ming stood in front of him with a respectful look on his face, patiently reporting on the recent results: in one month, the number of applicants increased from one thousand to four thousand.

At the same time, the number of merchants coming and going has increased significantly compared to last year.

After listening to his report, Zhang Yunxiu stood up and warned: "Now that the students are here, you, as the county magistrate, must arrange for their accommodation. Tell those hotels not to take the opportunity to raise their prices, otherwise I will not forgive you."

"I understand. I understand." Wei Ming nodded quickly in agreement.

At the same time, he heaved a sigh of relief, finally having served this ancestor well.

Tell me, why are they recruiting petty clerks for no reason? Anyone who can read can do this job. Why do they need to recruit so many educated people?
But since it was his superior's order, he didn't dare to ask so many questions.

Just get the job done quickly and that's it.

While Wei Ming was thinking, Zhang Yunxiu suddenly became interested. He looked at Wei Ming and suggested, "I have nothing to do today. Let's go and see the students' residences."

"Yes."

The two of them, one in front and one behind, entered a hotel wearing only simple clothes.

In front of the hotel, several young people carrying bags were sitting on small stools, and a waiter was busy processing room cards for several people at the counter.

Zhang Yunxiu walked forward, put his hand on the counter and asked, "How much is a medium-sized room here per day?" "One hundred cents." The waiter didn't even raise his head, busy with his own work.

"One hundred wen, that means three taels a month?" Zhang Yunxiu frowned.

Hearing the coldness in his voice, the servant raised his head, looked at Zhang Yunxiu, and explained with a smile: "Sir, you are joking. The calculation by day is naturally different from the calculation by month.

If calculated on a monthly basis, it would be at most two taels of silver, and the restaurant also includes lunch and dinner, so this price is fair, right? "

Zhang Yunxiu reluctantly accepted and then asked about the other guest rooms.

The upper rooms cost 200 wen per day, and the ordinary rooms cost 30 to 50 wen. This price is not expensive, after all, it is the peak season now, and it is a reasonable increase.

Then, he went around two more hotels and found nothing unusual, so he turned around and left. Suddenly, he ran into a few clerks in blue clothes walking in from outside.

The leader was a big, dark-faced man with pimples all over his face.

As soon as he came in, the waiter was like a mouse seeing a cat, shrinking his head and coming forward to greet him: "Second Master Zhao, everything has been cleaned according to your instructions. Now there is absolutely no dirt at all."

The big man with the pimples didn't respond. He just smiled coldly, patted the waiter on the shoulder and said, "You have the final say, so what do you need me for? If I say it's clean, then it's clean. If I say it's not clean, then it's not clean."

"Yes Yes Yes"

The guy understood and pulled the soldier to a small hut on the side.

After a while, the big man came out with a big smile on his face, holding the waiter's shoulder, and kept praising the shop.

Then, the big man randomly checked to see if there were any hidden dangers and left in a hurry.

After witnessing this scene, Wei Ming's face suddenly felt a little embarrassed. He carefully raised his head and looked at Zhang Yunxiu.

I noticed that this great man had a smile on his face, but he looked extremely cold.

He knew that this big shot was really angry.

"Let's go!" Zhang Yunxiu squinted his eyes and smiled, then strode out of the shop.

That night, Wei Ming returned to the county government office and immediately ordered his confidants to strip the identities of the people who patrolled the streets during the day.

The promotion and demotion of a few petty officials were insignificant in such a huge Huating County.

Even some people don’t know why they were fired.

However, the county magistrate soon issued a notice and quickly informed the reason for the incident: extortion of the people and abuse of power.

Now, those petty officials could no longer sit still.

Now the court only gives these old petty officials such a small salary. How are they expected to support their families with such little money?

This is all customary.

As long as there is no murder or arson, what's wrong with making a little money?
Suddenly, all the petty officials became angry.

Hundreds of petty officials, instigated by that lumpy-headed man, made a commotion and shouted to seek justice from the county magistrate.

"Why do we only get one tael of silver as wages, while those who passed the assessment get five taels?!" At the gate of the county government, the man with the bumpy head clenched his fist and gritted his teeth, "We don't accept it! We don't accept it!!"

"That's right. If we were given a house and five taels of silver as wages, who would still do that?"

"If you have the guts, come with me to the county government office and ask for justice from the magistrate. Otherwise, whoever wants to do this job can do it!"

"Yes, I want justice."

The anger of the crowd was completely ignited, and they poured into the government office.

(End of this chapter)