Chapter 142 Zheng Pingsheng and three others were arrested
After telling his brother several times to be careful and not to discuss state affairs, Shuiqing took Ling Ran and Fan Jiang home.
Before leaving, he left a large piece of pork but took away the pig intestines washed by Hu Wenhua.
On the other side, Fan Jin, who was buying food at the rice shop in Guangning Prefecture, pointed to beans and said to the clerk: "50 catties of red beans, 100 catties of mung beans, 150 catties of yellow beans, and 100 catties of millet."
Every time he came to the rice shop, he didn't buy rice, but bought grains and beans.
Shuiqing bought rice in the mall, which was delicious and cheap, but the mall was strange. These beans and millet were crowned with the title of "organic" and were more expensive than rice!
Even several times more expensive!
Shuiqing said that those so-called "organic" were the same as theirs, so of course they could be bought in the prefecture.
Before, he always transported lime and other things back, but after the mushroom season started a few days ago, he started to transport food.
Shuiqing said that red beans can be used to make red bean soup and honey bean cakes, so you should buy them;
Mung beans are most suitable for making mung bean soup to clear away heat and reduce internal heat in summer, and they can also sprout mung beans, so you should buy more;
Soybeans can be used to make bean products such as tofu and soy milk, and they can also sprout soybeans, so you should buy more;
Xiaomi has many people in my family, so I cook millet and wolfberry porridge in the morning, and then I can think about making millet cakes when I have nothing to do later. It can kill time and eat healthier, so I also need it.
When the clerk heard that the buyer was buying hundreds of kilograms, his face was full of joy. He bowed and greeted him: "Okay, sir, you are really good at foresight. Let me tell you a secret. Many merchants in our city have already started to stock up on grain."
Fan Jin was slightly surprised: "Someone has already stocked up on grain?"
The clerk looked around twice and lowered his voice to say secretly: "Well, grain is so important. Not to mention the unusually cold winter last year, even now, this prince was arrested today and that prince was punished tomorrow. Which family with money in savings would not leave a way out for themselves?
I am not talking nonsense for the sake of selling grain. It is right for you to stock up on some grain now. You see, it won't be long before the grain price goes up again!"
Fan Jin nodded, thinking that he would buy some peanuts, broad beans, peas when he comes tomorrow...
The clerk in the rice shop quickly moved sacks of grain to the ox cart and tied them neatly with thick hemp ropes. After testing that they were not loose, he led Fan to pay the silver at the counter with a smile on his face.
After buying food, Fan Jin did not dare to delay and drove the ox cart back.
There was still a lot of work to do when he returned: collecting firewood, storing fodder, drying vegetables, planting trees... and there was only one adult at home, and his children were all young, so he was worried...
When passing by a roadside teahouse, he heard familiar loud talk.
Fan Jin did not look sideways and walked forward as if he did not see it. The scholar in the teahouse was waving his fan very diligently, his voice was high and his saliva was flying. He was commenting on current affairs and had no time to look at the people on the roadside.
After walking a short distance, Fan Jin, who was some distance away from the teahouse, hesitated in his heart: those were clearly Zheng Pingsheng and his three friends just now.
However, in the past, they boasted of their status and always dined in restaurants, especially the best Shanhailou in Guangning Prefecture.
They had not seen each other for just a few months. Even if they were not in the best Shanhailou, they should not have fallen to a roadside teahouse.
For the three of them in the past, wasn't this a place of disgrace? They had always looked down on them.
"Get out of the way! Get out of the way!
All outsiders, please stay out of the way!"
His thoughts were interrupted by a loud shout. Fan Jin looked up and saw two rows of yamen runners in official uniforms holding sabers, rushing towards the teahouse with powerful steps.
Raising a cloud of dust.
Fan Jin stopped and looked towards the teahouse.
"What are you doing? What do you want to do?!" Zheng Pingsheng shook his sleeves with an angry look on his face.
"What are you doing? You are discussing state affairs without permission. I'll take you to the jail and wake you up!" The yamen runners headed the yamen runners and scolded.
Zhou Wenjian pointed at Zheng Pingsheng and asked the leading yamen runner loudly: "Do you know who he is?
He is a scholar! You don't need to kneel when you see your master, and you came to arrest us rashly!"
The yamen runner behind him said disdainfully: "Oh, so what if he is a scholar, we are arresting you! Our master is a Jinshi, and he is not as arrogant as you to discuss state affairs."
Zhang Qiang's face changed, and he asked with a smile: "Is there any misunderstanding here? Isn't it okay for us to talk about it before?
Besides, we didn't say bad things. We have been saying that the current emperor is wise and the prince is not good."
"The prince is not good, no matter how bad he is, he is still a phoenix son and a dragon grandson! Is it you who can talk about it?" The yamen runner sneered.
Another urged: "Stop talking nonsense! Follow us to the prison."
The faces of the three people changed several times.
Since before the New Year, everything has gone wrong for them.
Not only them, but also the business of Zhao Fugui, the treasury that has been able to pay their bills for a long time, has plummeted.
For some reason, the dirty and filthy things done by the Zhao family were exposed one after another.
The property was sold again and again, but it was useless to fill the hole.
Now all the Zhao family members were crowded in two shabby houses. Zhao Fugui didn't even go to the restaurant, and even changed his three meals a day to two meals a day.
Even though he was in such a state, Zhao Fugui was unwilling to give up the character of a scholar and find a job, so now the Zhao family is still eating the old foundation.
They naturally couldn't let Zhao Fugui pay the bills anymore.
And the three of them were originally teachers in official schools or private schools, but they were all fired one after another!
Without a fixed source of money, the three of them became anxious and turned their attention to the copying job that Fan Jin had looked down on before.
But after asking all the bookstores in a row, no one was willing!
Either they think their handwriting is ugly or they think the price is too high, they are always not satisfied with everything.
"Sir, please give us a break! We are all students. How can we take the imperial examination after being in prison?!" Zheng Pingsheng panicked and begged.
The yamen runners didn't care.
The master wanted to use a few students in the prefecture as an example to kill the trend of discussing the court!
As for why these three people were chosen, it was naturally because someone asked the master before, but it was just a matter of convenience.
Blame it on the mouths of these three people.
"Misfortune comes from the mouth, you three must know better than us, let's go, don't waste time, otherwise it will be ugly when you fight later!"
The sound of pushing, scolding, reprimanding and iron chains was endless.
Fan Jin thought of what Shuiqing said, to avoid places where state affairs were discussed, so as not to affect innocent people.
Shuiqing was right.
The road to the imperial examination for Zheng Pingsheng, Zhou Wenjian and Zhang Qiang was over.
As classmates, Fan Jin strangely did not feel bad at all, and even felt a little happy.
He knew that this was not good, and there was a bit of gloating in it, so he quickly suppressed it.
It turned out that those insults, difficulties, nitpicking, and humiliation... were not unheard of in his heart, and they had hurt him.
Now, he just felt that the depression in his heart had dissipated.
Looking up and looking forward, he exhaled and drove the ox cart towards home.