Traveling to an ancient peasant family: I got rich by doing business

Thinking that Han Zheng would face more troubles if he became an official next, Li Yu did not move. He signaled with his eyes that others should not worry about it, and then stood there to watch how Han Zheng would deal with it.

He is fifteen years old now, and it is time for him to try to solve problems other than imperial examinations and studying.

Now is a good opportunity to train him.

*

At this time, in the lobby.

Han Zheng passed the dish in his hand to the guest, and then faced the man who accused him, "Sir, there seems to be no article in Dayu's laws that prohibit scholars from working as waiters."

Li Yu raised her eyebrows. She used to like to talk about Dayu's laws, and Han Zheng also learned it, which was good.

On the other side, the man heard someone use Dayu's Laws to refute him for the first time, and felt embarrassed. He had never read Dayu's Laws and didn't know how to respond.

He held his breath for a few seconds and argued, "Dayu's laws don't say that, but you've read so many books by sages, don't you know that among the four classes of people, merchants are the lowest? How can you degenerate and work for merchants in a scholar's robe?"

Han Zheng lowered his eyes and looked at his scholar's clothes. He said, "Although merchants are the last among the four classes of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, the emperor is kind and does not treat merchants harshly. Besides, merchants also make money based on their own abilities. I don't think there is anything wrong with that. Besides, this store belongs to me. Why can't I come to help out in the store?"

The man was surprised: "Are you from this store?"

*

Han Zheng wanted to answer, but was interrupted by the man excitedly: "No wonder you stink of money, it turns out you are a businessman. In this case, you should take off your scholar's robe quickly, so as not to be misunderstood by others and embarrass us scholars."

In order to prove that what he said was right, the man said to the others: "Everyone, you also think I am right, right?"

There were scholars and ordinary people in the lobby. They looked at the man and then at Han Zheng, with different expressions on their faces.

The gentleman was right, but they did not particularly dislike merchants. Just like Han Zheng said, merchants also make a living by their own abilities. As long as they do not do bad things, do not exploit their partners, and do not sell inferior goods as good ones, there is nothing to criticize.

Sometimes, they even envy businessmen.

Take this hot pot restaurant for example. There are a constant stream of customers every day. They don’t know how much money they make. They wish they could make the same amount of money every day.

*

The man's companions felt that if they continued like this, they would be the ones to be embarrassed, so they pulled the man's sleeve and said, "Brother Wang, we are here to eat hot pot today, why do you care about other people? Just sit down quickly."

The man was not willing to give in. "Why do you care about me? Do you want to be like him?"

Unexpectedly, he was so ungrateful, and his companions' faces turned unhappy.

The man didn't care and planned to continue talking to Han Zheng.

Han Zheng didn't want to continue to argue with him, and said, "Sir, you are accusing me and saying that I am not worthy of being a scholar. Then what is your achievement?"

The man raised his head proudly, "Scholar, looking at your condition, I'm afraid you haven't even passed the examination for Tongsheng."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Lu Sheng suddenly stood up from the corner, "Han Zheng was the champion of the provincial examination in Nanzhou Prefecture last year. I don't know how much better he is than you. Instead of blaming him here, you might as well go back and study hard. You are the one who brings shame to us scholars."

The man suddenly opened his eyes wide, looked at Lu Sheng, then looked at Han Zheng, and murmured, "No... Impossible!"

"What's impossible? This dynasty has produced top scholars who were in their teens before." Lu Sheng looked at him with disdain. "I advise you to eat well, otherwise you don't know who will be embarrassed."

The man recovered, but still said stubbornly: "He is the top scholar, so what? It is not suitable for him to be a businessman."

Lu Sheng wanted Li Yu to speak for Han Zheng, but was stopped by Han Zheng.

Han Zheng looked at the man quietly, "It's not up to you to judge whether it's suitable or not. As long as His Majesty doesn't say I'm not suitable, then it's suitable. If you're not satisfied, you can go to His Majesty and see what he says."

The man stammered, "How can we see the emperor?"

"You can go to the palace and beat the drum to ask for permission, or you can pass the imperial examination in three years, and you can see His Majesty."

He didn't dare to strike the drum to submit his report, and as for the imperial examination three years later...the man, who knew his own level well, completely shut his mouth.

It took him seven years to pass the examination and become a scholar, and three years later he failed the imperial examination.

Han Zheng glanced at him casually and turned to go to the backyard.

*

Although there was no expression on his face, the man still felt insulted and his face turned red.

He sat down awkwardly, then muttered, "What's so great about being the top scholar? He studied with the money he earned from business, what's there for him to be proud of?"

The companion couldn't bear to listen any longer, put down his chopsticks, and said, "Brother Wang, if I remember correctly, your family was originally poor, and it was only with the help of your sister-in-law's family that you were able to study in the capital."

"So what?" said the man.

The companion said: "You are studying with the money from your sister-in-law's family's business. Why do you blame others? Besides, they..."

Others at least put in some effort, but he didn't put in any effort at all. I don't know how he got the nerve to say this about others in public.

At this moment, the companion felt that the man was not someone he should associate with, so he stood up, paid the money, and walked away with big strides without looking back.

*

The man sat in his seat, his face mixed with pale and blue. When someone saw him, he secretly covered his mouth and laughed.

The man was angry and was about to slam the table, but was stopped by Li Yu.

Li Yu put more than a hundred coins on the table, "Sir, this is half of your spending today."

The man looked up: "What do you mean?"

Li Yu said: "I am the owner of this shop, and the man just now is my younger brother. Since you look down on us, you probably don't want to eat here anymore.

But the young man has already paid the money and left. In order not to make you feel at a disadvantage, you can take this money as my compensation.

Our store is small and unworthy of a scholar like you, so we won’t force you to stay.”

After she finished speaking, a waiter from the palace came forward and said, "Sir, I'm so sorry that you are not satisfied with our shop."

The man opened his mouth and his eyes unconsciously swept towards other people.

However, he found that everyone was looking at him as if they were waiting for a good show.

He is in a dilemma.

To be honest, he thought the hotpot was delicious. After being in Beijing for so long, this hotpot was very much to his liking. He could even eat two more plates of meat.

But now he had to leave.

The man opened his mouth several times, but couldn't utter a word.

In the end, he had no choice but to leave reluctantly under the teasing gazes of everyone.

Li Yu watched him leave, looked at the people in the lobby and said, "I'm sorry for giving you a bad experience today. We will give each table a free pot of soy milk later. Please bear with me."

This matter was not the store's fault in the first place. It was clearly that man who was looking for trouble. Now that Li Yu mentioned giving away gifts, everyone felt that there was nothing wrong with the store and they all started to comfort her.

Some people who were smart asked Han Zheng intentionally or unintentionally whether he had a marriage partner.