The daily routine of the ancient imperial examination

When they arrived at the Ping'an Hall, shopkeeper Li was at the counter with an abacus to keep accounts, and the apprentices in the store were hurriedly carrying medicinal materials, creating a busy scene.

His elder brother touched the tip of his nose, and whispered to Lu Xiuyuan, "Did we come at the wrong time?"

What's the matter, don't you stop doing business when you buy goods?It doesn't take much time to grab a few packets of medicine.

He patted his elder brother's shoulder reassuringly, and walked up to greet the shopkeeper.

"Gui'an, shopkeeper Li, Mr. Lu is here to bother you again."

Seeing that it was Lu Xiuyuan, shopkeeper Li put down the abacus in his hand and asked, "Lu Xiucai is here to grab medicine again? But it's still the same one from last time?"

He nodded slightly, "Exactly."

Looking around, he didn't find Dr. Xu in the store, so Lu Xiuyuan couldn't help asking: "Dr. Xu hasn't come back yet?"

Shopkeeper Li fiddled with his abacus twice, and said indifferently: "It usually takes a month for Dr. Xu to go out for a free clinic. It's only been a few days. If you want to find Dr. Xu, you will have to wait for half a month."

When Lu Xiuyuan saw the two apprentices holding the box unloaded from the carriage, he just glanced at it and moved it to the back of the medicine cabinet.

I feel that it is unreliable to entrust two apprentices to be responsible for the purchase of goods.

But after all, it was someone else's business, and he couldn't take care of it that much, so he found the apprentice named Shi Zhu from last time, and asked him to help him grab the medicine for another week.

The other party nodded in good temper, put down the medicine box in his hand, turned around and went back to the medicine cabinet to grab the medicine.

Waiting for Lu Xiuyuan who was bored, his eyes could not help falling on the box in front of him.

Because of the opening, he saw the medicinal materials inside at a glance, a box full of native ginseng, not too small.

Shopkeeper Lin seemed to trust these two apprentices a lot.

Native ginseng, also known as cotinus orchid, was introduced from tropical America. It was named because it has the same nourishing and strong effect as ginseng.

Because it has just been introduced, the seedlings used for planting have always been in the hands of the dignitaries in the palace. They will sell ginseng at a slightly lower price to those outside who cannot afford ginseng but need the medicinal effects of ginseng.

Cotinus orchids have tenacious vitality, and they can grow thick heels within a year. Those high-ranking officials monopolize the planting, and they can make money continuously without any effort. It is really enviable, and Lu Xiuyuan feels a little sour in his heart.

I don't know if he stared at the native ginseng in the box for a long time, and the more he looked at it, the more he felt something was wrong.

I closed my eyes and recalled the details about the native ginseng in my mind, and observed it again, but still felt a little strange.

He simply leaned over and sniffed it. Indeed, the scent was not like the unique aroma of native ginseng, but a slightly sharp, indescribable other smell.

If he picked out a single native ginseng and smelled it, he might not be able to distinguish it, but so many piled up together, there is no ginseng smell, which is a bit strange.

With his hands behind his back, he changed the angle, found a native ginseng with half of its roots broken, and carefully inspected its cross-section to see if there were any features similar to the chrysanthemum heart pattern.

Changing positions non-stop, he checked several cross-sections in a row, but they didn't match. Thinking of a certain medicinal material in his memory, he probably had a judgment, and a raging anger ignited in his heart.

He was angry with this unscrupulous profiteer who even faked this life-saving medicinal material, sucked human blood and replaced it with this harmful medicinal material.

Sure enough, the apprentice was unreliable, and Dr. Xu had a big heart. If he hadn't taken a second look, he might have been taken advantage of by this profiteer.

The seller next to him who delivered the medicinal materials was an old man over half a century old. Although his clothes were ragged, his eyes were sharp and his whole body was full of calculating aura.

He saw Lu Xiuyuan staring at Tu Renshen, his shrewd eyes rolling around.

"Hey, let me tell you that scholar, don't look around if you don't buy medicine, can you afford it if you knock and fall accidentally?"

The old man stared, his eyes full of threats, trying to scare away the troublesome scholar.

Lu Xiuyuan raised his head and replied, "I have my hands behind my back and I don't touch them, how could I fall?"

"Then you also stay away from it, what if you want to sneak away? I paid a lot of money to collect it." The old man's tone was very fierce, and his words were harsh, and he wanted him to retreat quickly.

"Oh, it cost a lot of money," Lu Xiuyuan expressed disdain: "You are so old and do such a wicked thing, aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning when you go out?"

"What are you talking about!" The old man was furious in an instant.

Seeing that the two sides were at war with each other, the shopkeeper was afraid that Boss Chen would say something nasty again, and the two would fight again, so they quickly put down their abacus and hurried up to make peace.

"Hey, Boss Chen, calm down. I know Lu Xiucai's character, and he definitely wouldn't steal it. I guess he was just curious. What he said was unintentional."

After speaking, he persuaded Lu Xiuyuan who was behind him: "Lu Xiucai, don't pay too much attention to it. Boss Chen has been in business for many years, so he just talks like this. You overreacted just now. In fact, he didn't mean anything malicious."

Boss Chen didn't want to make too much noise, so he went down the steps. He raised his chin at Lu Xiuyuan and said to shopkeeper Li.

"Businessmen outside the country naturally value the goods very much. Shopkeeper Li, please ask this scholar to stay away from my medicinal materials. These are all my treasures."

For the sake of money, Boss Chen even put up with this kind of talk, and he still wants to make peace with the matter, so it depends on whether the other party agrees.

Lu Xiuyuan sneered directly, "Heh, who cares about poisonous things!"

Boss Chen's pupils shrank, and he slapped the counter fiercely.

"Well, you little brat, after studying for so many years, have you learned the etiquette in the stomach of a dog? Is there someone like you who slanders people innocently?"

Boss Chen's tone was very angry, and he pointed at Lu Xiuyuan's nose and cursed: "You are just a young scholar, and you don't work in this business, so why do you say my medicinal materials are fake!"

After finishing speaking, he grabbed shopkeeper Li and complained: "Treasurer Li, I just received this batch of goods from the capital with great difficulty. You know how many years we have cooperated with each other. This kid just said it was fake. Yes, tell me how to deal with this matter!"

The shopkeeper was a little embarrassed, this old man was indeed an old customer they had cooperated with for many years, but this Lu Xiucai didn't look like the kind of nonsense person?

How does he handle it?How can he handle it?

At this time, he really hated why Dr. Xu hadn't come back. As a layman, he didn't understand these things at all. He was just a small shopkeeper hired by Dr. Xu to manage the pharmacy!

Shopkeeper Li was caught in the middle, standing there in embarrassment, but luckily the dianthus next to him came over after grabbing the medicine.

Seeing the farce in front of her, Shi Zhu bowed to Lu Xiuyuan first.

"Lu Xiucai said that this native ginseng is a fake. Although I don't know much about pharmacology, I have learned from Dr. Xu for several years. I think I can still tell what the native ginseng looks like."

Lu Xiuyuan nodded and asked him to continue.

The other party randomly selected a ginseng in the box, "The main root of this ginseng is thick and conical, with few beards, gray-black skin, and longitudinal wrinkles. It is indeed the native ginseng that Master said."

Then he bowed again, and said politely: "I heard that Lu Xiucai is very knowledgeable and understands a little bit of medical theory. He is a rare genius in our town. Maybe it's because he read too much and accidentally memorized it?"

Putting the ginseng in his hand back into the box, Shizhu explained it very well.

His elder brother had been stunned since Lu Xiuyuan said that the ginseng was fake, but now he realized what the apprentice said.

He was anxious in his heart, and when he saw that the person grabbing the medicine was going down the steps for Erlang, he nodded quickly, "That's right, our Erlang usually likes to read books the most, and we read a lot of books, so it's possible that we have misremembered them."

After finishing speaking, his elder brother hurriedly walked to Lu Xiuyuan's side, "Forget Erlang, one more thing is worse than one less thing. Let's go back as soon as we finish grabbing the medicine."

Seeing Lu Xiuyuan standing still, his elder brother was very anxious, "Erlang, don't make trouble, he is a professional student, how could he not understand, after all, you are a scholar, you may not read the same books as them, and what you learned is the same. Not the same, let's not argue with them?"

Lu Xiuyuan quickly reached out his hand to interrupt his elder brother, he hadn't spoken for so long because he was surprised by Shi Zhu's words.

This apprentice, who has been with Dr. Xu for so many years, can't even tell the difference between native ginseng?If you wait until later to see a doctor independently, is that okay?

Or maybe, he was pretending to be ignorant and colluding with Boss Chen secretly?