The Road to the Imperial Examinations of Farmers in Ancient Times

At night, Li Wen went to Dean Fu's place alone, and the teacher and student closed the door of the study and talked for a long time.Returning from Dean Fu to his own small courtyard, Li Wen couldn't help smiling when he saw the man sitting in his small courtyard, and walked towards him.

Hearing the familiar footsteps, Zhao Xiangyi knew that it was Li Liuyuan who had returned. He turned his head to look at the young man walking towards him, and the man's eyes remained unchanged.Li Wen sat down next to Zhao Xiangyi, looked sideways at Zhao Xiangyi, and asked with a smile, "Why didn't you tell me that you are also a teacher's student?"

Zhao Xiangyi didn't answer this question right away. He knew that Li Liuyuan had just gone to Master Fu, so he must have learned about it from Master Fu.In fact, it's not that Li Liuyuan can't know about this matter, it's just that he didn't tell the boy if he didn't ask.

As for the thoughts of His Royal Highness, he didn't know.

After a while, General Zhao frowned and said, "This... there is nothing to say, sir probably doesn't want me to mention to others that I used to be his student." A student who can't even write an article well, saying that he is a student of the University of Fu, is indeed insulting the reputation of the University of Fu.

"Pfft..." Li Wen couldn't help laughing. With Dean Fu's character, this is really possible.The two of them haven't known each other for a long time, but they seem like old friends who have known each other for a long time. Li Wen also dared to joke with Zhao Xiangyi, "You haven't heard a saying, a teacher for a day will be a teacher for life."

Zhao Xiangyi nodded and said, "Back then, Master Fu gave lectures to His Royal Highness under the order of the Holy Majesty. I was His Highness's companion, so I also accompanied the Prince to listen to the lectures of several gentlemen. Master Fu is a man of great talent and knowledge. I have always treated him as the most respected person in my heart."

So he called Master Fu as his master. Strictly speaking, His Royal Highness is the student of Master Fu, and he can only be regarded as half of him.He was not a good student in the past, he preferred to go to the martial arts training ground to practice archery and martial arts 3

Zhao Xiangyi still remembers Fu University pointing to his nose and cursing at him with great morale: rotten wood cannot be carved.

"Oh." Li Wen nodded, so His Royal Highness is also a student taught by the teacher, so they are still from the same school?

He remembered that the first time he met His Highness the Crown Prince and Zhao Xiangyi was at Dean Fu's place.The second time I saw His Highness the Crown Prince and Zhao Xiangyi was at a restaurant in Nanyang.In other words, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Zhao Xiangyi should have known that he was a student of Dean Fu at that time, but the Crown Prince did not mention it in the later meeting.

Li Wen was at the teacher's place tonight, and the two talked about some things in the court and the current situation in the court. These problems are the problems he will face when he enters the court and becomes an official.From the perspective of his relationship with His Royal Highness and Zhao Xiangyi, he can be regarded as the younger brother of these two people, so it seems unlikely that he would want to separate himself from His Royal Highness in the future.

In a few brief encounters, it was difficult for him to judge what kind of person this Highness the Crown Prince was.

Although Li Wen didn't want to step into the muddy waters of the capital, he was already in it now, and he might not be able to get out at any time if he wanted to.

The eldest prince has looked for him before, and he is afraid that someone will be sent to look for him later.He still had a jade pendant in his hand that His Highness the Crown Prince personally gave. After arriving in the capital, Li Wen did not take this jade pendant to contact him at the place that His Highness the Crown Prince said.However, he didn't feel that such a small person like himself was worth the attention of the First Prince and His Highness the Crown Prince.

Of course, this is just Li Wen's personal opinion. With his six-yuan status, it is worth the effort of those people in the capital to win over him.

"Brother Zhao, how old were you to accompany the prince?" Li Wen asked curiously.

"Five or six years old." Too many years have passed, and even Zhao Xiangyi himself has forgotten a little bit. He has known His Highness the Crown Prince since he was a child, and Zhao Xiangyi himself doesn't remember when he was young.He later became the accompanying reader of His Highness the Prince, and the relationship between the two became closer.

Zhao Xiangyi knew why the prince chose him as a companion, and being selected by the prince as a companion was not something he could refuse.It's just that the prince chose him as a companion, or it may be other princes. Instead of being a companion for other princes, it is better to be the companion of His Royal Highness.

Compared with the other princes, the prince is the one who is most likely to sit on the throne.And with the support of their Zhao family, the chances of the prince sitting on the throne will be even greater.

In the past few years, the emperor is getting older, and he is even more afraid of the prince. The power of the other princes is constantly growing, as well as Dong Xiang and Dong Guifei, they want to support the seventh prince.In the current situation in the court, no one knows who will be the last to sit on the dragon chair until the last step.

From the day he became the companion of His Highness the Prince, he, Zhao Xiangyi, and the whole Zhao family were tied to the same boat with His Royal Highness and the Queen. The boat was about to capsize, and all of them had to drown.

Zhao Xiangyi looked at the young man in front of him, and he had an idea that he didn't really want to pull the young man on board.But Zhao Xiangyi knew that if Li Liuyuan didn't choose the prince's faction, the other princes would definitely try their best to win him over to their camp. If that's the case, it's better to bring the young man to their side. This is also the time. Why did Zhao Xiangyi follow His Highness the Prince's order and personally escort the boy back.

The moon in the sky is about to be full, and it is almost fifteen.

Li Wen propped his chin with one hand, looked up at the bright moon in the sky, he felt a little homesick.But now that they have arrived in Nanyang, they can go back soon after another boat trip. He said, "I used to study in Nanyang, and I didn't feel far away from home. When I went to the capital now, I realized that it was so wonderful to come back." easy."

In this day and age, it is really too difficult to travel far away. He misses modern planes and trains very much...

Zhao Xiangyi knew that the young man was homesick, and when the young man became an official in the imperial court, he could only return to his hometown to visit his relatives once in three years.He also went away from his hometown to a distant border when he was young. Zhao Xiangyi can understand the feeling of missing his relatives at home. His fathers are still guarding the frontier at a distant border and cannot return once for many years.

Seeing Zhao Xiangyi staring at him silently, Li Wen yawned, he was a little sleepy, and he said, "It's getting late, I'm going to bed, you should go back to sleep too. I'll take you to a place tomorrow."

"Okay." Zhao Xiangyi didn't ask the boy where he was going to take him.

After the two of them finished this short chat, Zhao Xiangyi got up, bid farewell to the boy, and walked out to the gate of the courtyard.Seeing the man who left, Li Wen turned his head, yawned, went back into the house, climbed into bed and went to sleep.

Early the next morning, after eating breakfast in the mansion, Li Wen talked to the housekeeper, and Li Wen took Zhao Xiangyi and Lu Zhishu to Zhuangzi, and they saw a green field from a distance.

In May, the crops in the field are green and lush. At a glance, they are all green, and you can’t see the edge. The fertile fields in the distance meet the blue sky and blend into one.

Lu Zhishu didn't know why Li Wen brought them to this place.

"You must not know why I brought you here," Li Wen glanced at the people around him, smiling brightly.Military division Xie was not ashamed to ask, and said, "I would like to ask Li Liuyuan to make a point."

"Hey, I won't tell you, you guys will know in a while." Li Wen didn't tell Xie Yunfei, but gave them a "you'll know in a while" look.

Zhao Xiangyi was not in a hurry, he took a step behind and followed the young man.

Taking a glance at the crops planted in the field, Zhao Xiangyi found that these crops were better than what they saw elsewhere.

"Young master, it's the young master who is here." From a distance, someone saw a group of people walking towards the ground, recognized the young boy in the head, and someone shouted.

"Young master!"

"It's the young master!"

Hearing the shout, people working in the field got out of nowhere and ran over.Seeing the young boy come back, they all had excitement and joy on their faces, and shouted joyfully, "Young master, it's really you, you're back!"

"Young master, we all heard that you are the No. [-] scholar in high school, and you will stay in the capital to become an official." They all thought that the young master would not come back. They heard that the young master went to the capital to take the No. [-] examination, and he will become a high official in the future. That's right, I didn't expect to see the young master and come back here today.

They knew that the young master had won the first prize, and they were very happy for the young master. If the young master is such a good person, if there is no young master, many people here would not even be able to eat.Now they not only have food to eat, but also live in beautiful houses. They no longer have to worry about starving to death if they have no food, or freezing to death when it snows in winter.

"Oh, the young master is now the number one scholar. We have to salute when we see him." Some people here reacted, thinking that the young master is now a high-ranking official. Feel free.

"Grassmen pay homage to Mr. Champion..." Everyone knelt down and saluted one after another.

"No, no, no need to salute, no need to salute." Li Wen quickly grabbed the person who was going to kneel down and saluted, and shouted to those who were already kneeling behind him, "Everyone, get up quickly, stop kneeling, if you do this again, I will I'm going to be angry."

Those who had already knelt down behind got up one by one.

Seeing these ordinary people being so enthusiastic and happy to see Li Liuyuan, both Zhao Xiangyi and Xie Yunfei felt puzzled in their hearts, and Li Liuyuan seemed to be very familiar with the people here.Lu Zhishu also didn't understand.

After everyone got up, many of them were familiar faces. He hadn't seen everyone for more than half a year, and he missed the people on Zhuangzi's side very much in his heart.

Li Wen came to visit Zhuangzi on purpose today. He said, "I went back to my hometown to visit my parents. I passed through Nanyang on the way and came back to visit my teacher. I just have free time today. I will come to Zhuangzi to see you."

"Yes, Mr. Lao misses you."

That's why the young master came to see them.

It's been a long time since I saw the young master. When many of them sit and chat together, they will mention the young master.After knowing that the young master was the number one scholar in high school and would stay in the capital to become an official, they all thought that the young master would never return to this place, and they would never see him again, so they were a little sad for this.

But at the same time, they are also happy for the young master, because the young master won the first prize and can stay in the capital as a high official in the future

No.90—Chapter Semi-Open

"If you are not busy, let's talk while walking, I just want to walk here and look at the crops in the field.

Li Wen reached out to touch the crops growing in the field, and asked how the crops were growing this year. Judging from the growth of the crops in the field, the crops in the farmland near Zhuangzi were all growing well.

During the years when he was studying in Nanyang, he wasted a large part of his time and thoughts on Zhuangzi's side, all of which was engaged in this farming business.The seeds used for the crops in their fields are all optimized and selected, and the management methods for the fields are relatively advanced, so their current achievements are also obvious.

Farming is not just about blindly planting, but also pays attention to the way of planting and management. He has spent a large part of his time and effort on the training of managers.

"It's not too busy, let's go with the young master." None of these people were willing to leave, and it was hard for them to see the young master.When the young master goes to the capital to become an official in the future, it will be difficult for them to see him again.

Seeing that everyone was unwilling to leave, more and more people followed him along the way, and some of them were the managers of the areas he selected. Li Wen asked about the areas that everyone was in charge of. Managers can answer it.

They walked from the outside to the inside and came to the cotton field. Li Wen asked about the planting situation of the cotton field this year. how many."

"Young master, please rest assured that the number of people planting cotton trees has greatly increased this year." The manager of the cotton field reported a number, how many households in Zhuangzi have planted cotton trees, and how many acres of cotton have they planted this year The land, how much more than last year, I remember clearly.

"Well, yes, let's see if the cotton production in the field can meet our budget this year. If we can do better, that's good." It can be seen that even during his absence, these people are still the same. Some of them managed the crops in the field very well. Li Wen was very satisfied with this, and asked again how much cotton he expected to produce this year.

The manager reported a number and said, "According to last year's production, this is the output we expect to grow this year."

In the past, Li Wen asked everyone to clearly record the planting area and production in the field every year, according to headcount, quantity, and production.The planting situation of last year and the planting situation of this year must be recorded. Only by comparing can we know where the problem is and improve it in the future.

They make an estimate every year at the beginning of the year. If they can exceed their goals later on, they will be rewarded.

Those who fail to achieve the goal will be punished, so without his supervision, these people will try their best to serve the crops in the field, hoping to achieve the budgeted output, not only to get a reward, but also to be able to Get the little boy's appreciation and everyone's approval.

What Li Wen has to do is to let these people realize that there are still many ways to plant good land, and everyone should use their brains diligently.Farmers are not a group of lowly people. They have the same dignity and status. They can live a good life through their own efforts and live like everyone else.

His hard work these years was not in vain. The mental outlook of these people has undergone great changes. Even if it is the same farming, everyone has expectations for life. With more smiles on their faces, life will be more enjoyable. Looking forward to it.

"Oh, so that's the case, I really can't tell..." Xie Yunfei heard the conversation between Li Liuyuan and these old farmers. He found that Li Liuyuan knew these things in the field well, and he seemed to be the leader of these old farmers. He knows more about these affairs in the field than these old farmers.

Now he finally understands why Li Liuyuan said that the people are the foundation of the country.The people are indeed the foundation of the country.

Xie Yunfei couldn't help imagining in his mind, if every place in their Dacheng could be like this place, and the crops grown in the farmers' fields could be so good, why worry about not being able to grow food in the fields?Food is grown in the ground,

Will the people still be hungry?With food in the hands of the common people, will the court still have no food in stock?The imperial court has food, do the soldiers at the border still go hungry to fight the enemy?

This can't help but make his eyes a little hot. Li Liuyuan has done something greater than all the scholars and officials in the world. Scholars only read the books of sages and sages. They don't care how the people live. How is the food grown, I don't know what is a people and what is a country.Therefore, after these people become officials, they will only think about their own interests, and will not consider the people, let alone seek benefits for the people.

No wonder Li Liuyuan would say that day that being an official is not for the benefit of the people, it is better to go home and farm the land.

Li Liuyuan farms land better than others!

It turns out that Li Liuyuan is not only good at reading, but also farming!Not knowing what surprise Li Liuyuan would give him, Xie Yunfei began to look forward to it.

Zhao Xiangyi looked at Li Liuyuan with the same different scrutiny in his eyes. It seemed that he wanted to re-examine Li Liuyuan.

Yuan, the surprise brought to him by the young man was far more than what he knew.This time, without His Highness the Crown Prince's orders, he would try his best to bring Li Liuyuan to their side. He absolutely couldn't let such Li Liuyuan go to the First Prince, Third Prince, and Dong Xiang.

"Do you know what these cotton trees are grown for?" Li Wen pointed to the cotton trees in the field and asked Lu Zhishu and Zhao Xiangyi.

Lu Zhishu shook his head. It was only now that he realized that what he said about becoming an official in a local area and doing things for the people was just empty talk. He knew nothing about how to do things for the people, let alone how to do it.

"Let me tell you, this kind of tree is called cotton, and it will bloom, and there is a ball of cotton in the bud. When the flowers wither, we collect the cotton, and we can use the cotton to make all kinds of cotton coats. Cotton quilts, cotton quilts, and good things to keep warm in winter." Li Wen explained to Zhao Xiangyi and Lu Zhishu what a cotton tree is, how to plant it, what is the yield, and how to make and process it.

Now that I have finished visiting the side of the field, I just take everyone to the workshop to have a look.

Li Wen said, "Let's go, aren't you curious about how cotton is processed? I'll take you to the workshop to have a look, and you'll understand."

Zhao Xiangyi nodded, he was really curious about this kind of tree that can grow cotton.If this kind of tree can grow something called "cotton", can make clothes, shoes and hats, and can resist the cold in winter, then they can plant these trees in many places, which will make it easier for the soldiers at the border. Make clothes to keep out the cold. With the clothes to keep out the cold, the soldiers at the border will no longer have to endure the severe cold in winter.

The man looked at the trees with enthusiasm and surprise in his eyes.

"Young master, this old slave didn't know that young master came to Zhuangzi, but he couldn't come to greet him in person, so he hoped that young master will forgive his sin." When the steward of Zhuangzi heard that young master was coming, he hurried over, and as soon as they met to kneel down

Li Wen hurriedly pulled him back, and said, "Come on, come on, please get up!"

"I just returned to Nanyang yesterday, and I brought a few friends here to have a look just because I thought about it today." Li Wen introduced a few friends around him, without specifying their identities, only that he brought them here. A few friends came to have a look at the workshop.

"Yes, young master, I will guide you." The housekeeper made a gesture of invitation and led the people in.

"Let's go, let's go in and have a look together." Li Wen said to Lu Zhishu and Zhao Xiangyi.

Zhao Xiangyi, Lu Zhishu and Xie Yunfei took a step behind and followed Li Wen. They all looked at this place curiously.There are so many people working in such a small place, and everyone is busy with what they are doing.

Li Wen followed the steward into the inside, and asked about the current situation of the workshop, and he realized that in the past six months, the workshop has been more than three times as busy as before.There are more people here than before, and there are some unfamiliar faces here. He asked where these people came from.

The number of textile machines in the workshop has increased to hundreds, and hundreds of weavers are working inside.

"Do you remember the kind of cloth I saw in the cloth shop last time in Yuancheng?" Li Wen pointed to the green cloth hanging on it, and asked the people behind him with a smile.Lu Zhishu took a step forward and said, "Is this the green cloth you asked about last time?"

"Well, that's right." Li Wen was still very proud of this. These things were all produced by his hands. He said, "This is the green cloth, and the green cloth outside comes out from here."

"Have you seen so many looms and weavers working? Do you know how much cloth can be produced by one person in a day, and how much cloth can be produced by one person?" Li Wen then reported a number. A weaver can produce as much cloth a day with such a loom, and an ordinary peasant woman can produce as much cloth a month with an old-fashioned loom.

Xie Yunfei was shocked when he heard the number, and asked, "Is this true?"

"Of course, didn't you see it with your own eyes?" Li Wen took everyone to watch the weaving room for a while, and let them see with their own eyes how the cloth was produced by the hands of the weaver, and the shuttle on the loom was running at high speed. After half a year, the weavers here are already very proficient in weaving, so the weaving speed is very fast.

"Let's go, let's go to another workshop."

There is also a connected workshop below, which is a place for processing cotton, but it is not yet the season for cotton collection, so because there is no raw material, the workshop here is relatively empty, and there are not so many workers.

Li Wen asked someone to open the door of the warehouse, and brought out some cotton coats, cotton hats, shoes and gloves, and said, "Look, these are clothes made of cotton, and the clothes, shoes, hats and gloves are here. After a while, I will have someone prepare a set for each of you to go home."

"This is the model of last year. This year's cotton has not yet come out, so this year's cotton coats will not be produced until the end of the year."

"You made these for sale?" Xie Yunfei stretched out his hand to touch a piece of clothing, only to feel that the touch of the tentacles was soft and thick. He was sure that this clothing would not feel cold when worn on his body in winter.

"Yeah, these things are made and not sold, do you still keep so many for yourself to wear?" Li Wen said, "Oh, I forgot to tell you, all the things on Zhuangzi here belong to the teacher. I used to study in Nanyang, They all lived at the teacher's place, found this Zhuangzi by accident, and thought that they would have nothing to do, so they came here to make a fuss."

So accidentally, he made so many things.

The corners of Xie Yunfei's mouth twitched, thinking to himself that only you are so capable, you can make so many things while studying, and even got a champion in the exam after finishing, it really deserves to be the first six yuan awarded by them .

"What's the price of this piece of clothing?" Xie Yunfei asked.

"I don't know much about the price. You can ask the manager." Li Wen turned to ask the manager. The manager is very clear about the affairs of the workshop and the selling price of these clothes, shoes and hats, so one to five Ten reported out.

The price is so low?Xie Yunfei thought about Zhao Xiangyi, then turned to Li Liuyuan and asked, "Can we order these clothes?"

"...Well, it should be possible. You can talk to the teacher when the time comes, or come here to talk to the manager." After the workshop was built, Li Wen didn't care about the things here, so he was right These things inside are not well understood.But he knew that he would be able to discuss this matter with Dean Fu if he talked to him.

But it seems that Dean Fu doesn't care about these things. It should be Uncle Man who is in charge of these things, right?

"Okay, when the time comes, I'll talk to Mr. Zhao in person." Zhao Xiangyi said.

Li Wen knew what Zhao Xiangyi wanted these cotton coats for. There were hundreds of thousands of soldiers at the border. If everyone wanted one, it would be hundreds of thousands. He patted Zhao Xiangyi on the shoulder and said, "Brother Zhao, Don’t be in a hurry, don’t say that you don’t have that much here, but there is such a large amount for you, can you come up with so much silver in one go?”

The 10,000+ soldiers at the border are not the responsibility of the Zhao family. After all, these soldiers are the emperor's soldiers, and they are raised by the state, not the Zhao family.If the Zhao family can spend so much silver to buy military supplies, when the emperor finds out, maybe he will label the Zhao family as "bad intentions".

The Zhao family had already aroused the emperor's fear, and now they took out so much silver to buy military supplies. Your Zhao family is buying the hearts of the soldiers. The emperor said in one sentence: What does your Zhao family want to do?

How to explain then?

"There are so many people here in Zhuangzi and the workshop to support, and the things here are not free. Everyone has paid for their labor, so everyone should have income from their labor. If you work and get nothing, then who is willing to give it to you? What about work?" Li Wen also told Zhao Xiangyi clearly that even if he used his identity or the Zhao family's identity to say it, these things could not be given to him for nothing.

There are still so many people to support in their workshop, and there are still many people in the whole village and nearby farmers.

Zhao Xiangyi paused, nodded, and said, "I understand."

"Let's go back, let's talk about it on the way back." Li Wen couldn't bear it, they had already seen everything they wanted to visit here today, and his purpose today was to bring them here Take a look and tell them that as long as there is another way, the people can live a good life.

"Okay." After watching this journey, Lu Zhishu was surprised at the beginning, and now he is thinking deeply. He began to think about what he could do for the people when he went to the place, and how he would do it for the people. .

After visiting the workshop, they headed back.