A powerful minister of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 11 The Trouble That Came

Zhang Fangping felt that what Song Xuan said made sense, and decided to go back in the dark at night to recall the contents of the book and consolidate his knowledge.

Song Xuan then instructed Zhang Da:

"Everyone I saw today kept it to myself, so as not to reveal my whereabouts and upset the gentlemen."

Zhang Da nodded repeatedly. Twelve Lang used his own reason because he was tight-lipped, not to mention that he reminded him again:
"The villain understands."

Walk from Zhujiazhuangzi to Lema Town and all the way to Song Xuan’s Liangjiang Shop.

Three people called out "Young Master".

Song Xuan nodded in turn, went upstairs, and put the bow and arrow on the table.

He was lying on the recliner in his room.

Generally speaking, Song Xuan rarely goes back home to live, because there is not much to miss about that home anyway.

This is good, as it can avoid some unnecessary trouble.

Recalling what happened today, Song Xuan picked up the "Spring and Autumn Annals" and read it carefully.

Compared to Zhang Fangping's photographic memory, Song Xuan still can't do that. He still needs to review the old to learn the new.

The book is less than 17,000 words and does not even have punctuation marks.

Therefore, Song Xuan divided the sentences and added punctuation marks after reading the book himself. Some of the punctuation was based on the punctuation of private school teachers, and some of it was punctuated based on his own sense of language.

In short, there is no unified standard.

Many teachers go at their own pace.

The imperial court designated unified textbooks for the imperial examinations, but the teaching staff depended on the local conditions.

Of course, there are also students who are not picky about their teachers and can pass the imperial examination no matter what.

But Song Xuan is different. He has not been immersed in the imperial examination since he was a child.

These two shops took up a lot of his time and energy, not to mention that if he wanted to maintain a wealthy life in the future, he had to take the civil service exam!

It was easier for test-takers to succeed in small towns in the Song Dynasty. Half of the prime ministers of the Song Dynasty came from small town test-takers.

Emperor Zhao Song was happy to see this happen.

These people hold high positions, but they do not have much foundation behind them and cannot overthrow the rule of the Zhao family.

"Master, Cui Er is here to collect money again."

Song Xuan was awakened from his sleep by the noise.

He didn't know when he developed the habit of falling asleep easily after reading or studying.

Song Xuan put the book on his chest aside and wiped the sweat off his face.

He walked out from downstairs with his arms bare, and saw Cui Er, who was also bare-armed and had a plaster on the corner of his eye, standing at the door and said respectfully:

"I, Cui Er, have met Twelve Lang. I'm here to collect the money on behalf of the Beggars' Sect."

Song Xuan stood at the door, looking down at Cui Er:

"I remember I already paid it at the beginning of the month."

"Shi Er Lang, you may not know that the rules have been changed. In addition to paying at the beginning of the month, you also need to pay in the middle of the month."

Cui Er had a strong smile on his face:
"Shierlang is young and promising, and he is the backbone of the neighborhood. They all hope that Shierlang will be the first to turn over."

A group of neighbors had already gathered around, all of them filled with anger.

Originally, everyone had agreed to pay some money to prevent beggars from blocking the door.

I didn't expect it to get worse now.

However, intimidated by the thugs behind Cui Er, no one took the initiative to speak.

Song Xuan had read some books and thought that it would be difficult for merchants to succeed in a rebellion because most of them had families and businesses and it was difficult for them to take risks.

So it is normal to be weak and vulnerable.

"Who changed the rules?"

Hearing Song Xuan's question, Cui Er immediately lowered his voice and bowed:

"To Twelve Lang, it's naturally that one."

"I don't believe it!"

Song Xuan stood with his hands behind his back: "We have long known that Gang Leader Cao is a generous person. He sent people to collect our garbage and sewage with all their heart and soul. The money we paid is worth it. But he suddenly changed the rules for no reason. Who can believe it!"

"Yes."

Song Xuan started to sing.

The neighbors around started arguing with each other.

Cui Er always thought that although Song Xuan was young, he was a sensible person and generous. He didn't expect that he would be so tough today.

"Unless Gang Leader Cao comes and tells the neighbors himself, or else it's you, Cui Er, who is secretly stirring up trouble, trying to get more money from us!"

"Shi Er Lang, do you really think that with my ugly face, Cui Er, I have the ability to collect money privately in Lema Town?"

After hearing this, Song Xuan nodded, then sat on the chair and thought for a while:
"Could it be that Boss Cao is ill?"

Cui Er was stunned for a moment, but he quickly covered it up and shook his head.
"So that Twelve Lang can know, the main reason is that we need to transport the things to a farther place for burial, so we have to do this."

After hearing this explanation, Song Xuan could be sure that Boss Cao was ill.

Someone wants to take advantage of the opportunity to cause trouble.

As the "dung tyrant" of Lema Town, he actually monopolizes the surrounding fertilizers to increase field production.

This business is profitable.

Although the Qimin Yaoshu of the Northern Wei Dynasty was not popularized.

But agricultural research surged during the Song Dynasty as many people began to summarize the experiences of previous generations.

After the Southern Song Dynasty, with the serious loss of land, more people wanted to study how to harvest more food on less land, and agronomy developed more and more.

Because the Song Dynasty simply could not use the method of fallow land like the previous Tang Dynasty to achieve a better harvest.

I don't have that condition, you know.

"Cui Er, I, Song Twelve, am not trying to embarrass you. If I suddenly charge you more money without any rules, no one will accept it.

Even if I don't think it's a lot of money, many of my neighbors have families and a lot of things to spend money on, so you can't be the first to cut me out."

Cui Er was still willing to listen to Song Xuan's reasoning.

It's easier to accept than Shi Erlang using his fists to reason with him.

Song Xuan still sat in the chair and pondered:

"How about this? I'll get a few representatives to go see Boss Cao. We need to talk it over. There's always a chance someone will misunderstand or be dissatisfied when someone goes through the motions. Once that misunderstanding is established, no one will be able to make money easily in the future."

Cui Er's face showed a serious expression:

"Shi Erlang, I need to consult with Gang Leader Cao before I can proceed with this matter."

"Ah."

Song Xuan waved his hand and let him go.

When the bookshop owner Zhou saw Cui Er leave, he quickly said:
"Shi Er Lang, do we really have to agree to pay more?"

Song Xuan was silent for a while:
"If I want to go see Gang Leader Cao, who's willing to go with me?"

Everyone also understood that Song Xuan had no intention of provoking this matter.

But everyone knew that he would not be able to pass the entrance exam to Yingtianfu Academy, and a month later Song Xuan could no longer study in the private school.

I'm counting on making money from this shop.

The younger Song Xuan beat Cui Er, who came to ask for money, until he cried for his parents.

How could it become like this when he just moved his mouth?
Everyone is counting on Song Xuan to come forward.

People signed up one after another. Song Xuan nodded and asked the waiter to get him a glass of cold drink. He took two sips and went upstairs directly.

Song Xuan was too lazy to care about so many things.

"Twelfth Brother, do we really have to pay?"

Tao Hong, the owner of another shop of Song Xuan's, followed.

"The Beggars' Sect is about to go into internal turmoil. Let's not get into trouble."

After hearing Song Xuan's judgment, Tao Hong quickly spoke:
"Twelfth Brother, summer is a good time for us to sell cold soup. If there is unrest, it will affect our business and we will have a hard time explaining it to Mr. Lei!"

(End of this chapter)