Crossing the famine, I am a poor fish, and my descendants have to work hard

Zhang Xinbai brought the milk and all the other carriages.

I went to the shop. This time there were many people because we were transferring the property to the servants who had not yet transferred the property.

When we arrived in the capital, every shop was tidying up and cleaning.

While the business had not yet opened, she took the maid, old woman, cook and servant to transfer the ownership of the business.

All the servants were transferred to Zhang Xinbai's name.

When I came back from the transfer, the store was already being cleaned.

Distribute items and arrange accommodation for the new servants, cooks, maids and others in the shop.

Everything was packed up, firecrackers were set off and we officially started business.

Probably because people had been cooped up at home for a few days, there were a lot of people on the streets on the sixth day of the Chinese New Year.

There was a constant stream of customers in the shop.

Zhao Yuanzhen went to the storytelling shop.

The seats there were also completely full, with many people coming to return or exchange books.

After a while, he took Zhang Xinbai and others to the carriage dealership to buy a carriage.

There are now four horse-drawn carriages in the family, and Zhao Yuanzhen plans to keep one for the dessert shop to use for delivery.

The milk and charcoal delivery people at home occupied one carriage for a long time, and one more carriage was needed for me to go in and out. When I went back to the Yellow River, I had to bring at least four cooks, four servants, and 4 servants, which also required three carriages. At least two carriages had to be kept at home.

All in all, I still have to buy four.

"Happy New Year, ma'am. What can I help you with?"

“Look at the horses.”

"Madam, look over here. These are all young and strong horses. They can be used for at least another ten years."

"How much is this horse?"

"These are 35 taels each, take your pick."

"I want four horses. Can you make it cheaper?"

"How about this, I'll give you a discount of one ounce for each, what do you think?"

"Then add four more carriages!"

"That won't do, ma'am. The cheapest carriage costs more than one tael of silver. This deal is too unprofitable."

"Well, I'll give you 140 taels, and you'll buy me a carriage."

Four horses cost 136 taels, plus four good carriages, 140 taels. Then there was another 4 taels of silver for the carriages.

The horse seller thought about it for a while, then gritted his teeth and agreed. It was better than giving away the carriage for free.

After paying the money, he asked his servant to check the carriage, equip it, hitch the cart and set off.

You have to go to the pawnshop to buy the person.

"Happy New Year, Madam Zhang. Please come in."

The shopkeeper thought that he would make a lot of money in the new year, so as soon as he opened the shop in the morning, the God of Wealth came to his door.

"Look at the tea. I wonder what Madam Zhang wants to see this time?"

"See if there are any servants who are smart and healthy, and also some neat and capable maids."

"Madam, please wait a moment. We have many new people coming this New Year."

Soon he came in with more than 30 servants.

The whole room was filled with people standing there.

The servant picked out 20 of them because they were in good shape and looked good.

After selecting the items, the shopkeeper asked everyone in the group to leave and the maid came up.

There are more than 30 maids doing menial work. Although they are maids, they are all over 27 years old and around 30 years old.

Zhao Yuanzhen selected another 10 maids to do chores.

"Let's calculate, how much is it in total?"

"Okay, madam, this boy is five taels of silver, and the maid is four taels of silver, a total of 5 taels."

"Okay, let's sign the contract."

After giving the money, he led the people into the carriage and went directly to the yamen to continue the transfer of ownership.

After the transfer was completed, Xin Baidu took it back.

There are now 95 servants in the house. The Daliang Dynasty stipulates that a common family can own a maximum of 100 slaves, and there are still 5 vacancies.

Fortunately, it is enough for the time being.

I hope Xin Shu can pass the imperial examination soon.

Speaking of the imperial examination, we have to find a good academy for Xin Shu.

Who should I ask?

I am not familiar with Beijing, and I heard that good schools all require recommendations.

Apart from Zhao Yuanlan, the only other connection he had was with the Third Prince's Mansion.

Zhao Yuanlan often marched and fought in battles, and was not familiar with the academy.

But it might be difficult for His Majesty the Third Prince to handle it.

Why not ask Butler Xiao? He said that the prime minister's servants are seventh-rank officials.

As for Butler Xiao, the prince's butler, he must be at least of the fifth rank.

When asking someone to do something for you, you have to prepare a gift.

What should we prepare for Butler Xiao?

No cigarettes, no alcohol, no glass, no tea. The Third Prince's Palace must have all of these, and they are even better.

Glasses! This is fine. Every time Butler Xiao looks at things, he squints. He must be nearsighted.

But it doesn't seem to be very serious. It should be about 100 degrees of myopia.

I chose a pair of glass myopia glasses using the oldest technology in the mall. They were round glasses with all-black frames.

It was packed in a wooden box and taken to the Third Prince’s Palace.

"Happy New Year, Madam Zhang!"

"Happy New Year, little brother. Please help me find Butler Xiao."

Then he took out a red envelope and handed it to the servant.

The servant took the red envelope, thanked him, and went to look for someone.

More than half an hour later, Butler Xiao came over.

"Happy New Year, Madam Zhang. What do you want from me?"

"Happy New Year, Butler Xiao. Let's talk here."

Then he took Butler Xiao aside.

"It's like this, Butler Xiao, I noticed that you always squint when looking at things. I think it's myopia as described in the medical books. I made a pair of glasses according to the medical books. Please try it."

He took out his glasses, opened the box, took out the glasses, opened the legs of the glasses, and handed them to Butler Xiao.

"How do you use this?"

Butler Xiao was a little skeptical. How could this be used?

"Just put it on your ears like this."

Zhao Yuanzhen demonstrated it.

Butler Xiao followed suit and brought it with him.

You know what, it really works. Things aren't blurry anymore.

The world in front of me suddenly became clear. It felt clearer than ever before.

"This, this magical item, is it called glasses?"

"Yes, this is a pair of glasses for myopia. Because it is made of colored glass, it will fog up when it enters the room or encounters moisture, but you can just wipe it dry with a clean cloth. As long as it is not broken, it can be used for a lifetime."

"It's amazing. I have always had trouble seeing things, but now I can see clearly with these glass glasses. Madam Zhang is indeed a strange person, just as the Third Prince said. I would like to thank Madam Zhang. If you need anything in the future, you can come to me. I will definitely help you as long as I can."

"Butler Xiao, look, today is the best day to do me a favor."

Butler Xiao: I feel like I’ve been tricked.

"Madam Zhang, please feel free to speak."

"It's my youngest son, he's 13 this year, he used to study in a college in Yanshan, now he's in the capital, I want to find a better college for him. But housekeeper Xiao knows that we just arrived in the capital not long ago, we're not familiar with the place, and we don't know where to start looking for a college. So I want to ask housekeeper Xiao for some information."

"There are two good academies in the capital. One is the Imperial Academy, which is not accessible to Mrs. Zhang with her family background. However, there is a Hanshan Temple Academy, which is excellent in terms of both talent and character. The person who runs the school is the former Grand Tutor.

Well, I will write you a letter of recommendation, and you can take your youngest son to try, but the old tutor has very high requirements for the character and knowledge of the students he accepts, so whether you can pass the assessment depends on yourselves. "

"Okay, okay, as long as there is a letter of recommendation, it will be great. We will work hard on the assessment."

"Okay, then Madam Zhang, please come in with me. I'm going to write a letter."

"Ok"

Zhao Yuanzhen followed housekeeper Xiao and went back home to write a letter.

After a while, Butler Xiao came out with the written letter.

Zhao Yuanzhen took it, said goodbye to Butler Xiao, and went back.

Xin Shu was in the storytelling shop at this time.

Handed the letter to Zhang Xinshuo.

"Mom, what is this?"

"This is the recommendation letter for the Hanshan Temple Academy written by the Third Prince's Housekeeper Xiao. Please pack it up and I will send you to the academy. Although there is a letter of recommendation, you still need to pass the assessment of the headmaster."

"Okay, Mom, I got it. Wait for me to clean up."

Zhang Xinshu packed up his pen, ink, paper and inkstone and put them all in his schoolbag.

Zhao Yuanzhen took him to Hanshan Temple.

Hanshan Temple is probably outside the First Tianshui Street, about 20 minutes away from the shop.

When they arrived at the gate of the academy, Zhang Xinshu went to knock on the door.

"Hello, I came to study at the academy after being recommended by someone. I hope you can inform the dean."

"Any letters?"

"some."

He took out the letter and handed it to the young man.

The young man took the letter into the academy and came back after more than 20 minutes.

"come in."

"Mom, you can go in now."

Zhao Yuanzhen told the servant to park the carriage aside and followed the servant in.

"Master Shanzhang, the people are here."

The servant knocked on the door gently.

"come in."

An old man in his 50s, with slightly gray hair, thin body, but in good spirits, was sitting behind the desk.

He watched people come in, stood up and asked them to sit down.

"Sit down." Then he sat down too.

"Thank you, Shanzhang."

Zhao Yuanzhen and Zhang Xinshu also found a seat and sat down.

"You should know my rules. Only those who pass the assessment can enter my academy."

"Yes, please give me some advice, Master."

"Well, now that you know, let's get started."

Because Zhang Xinshu was not very old, the tutor did not ask him an essay question right away. Instead, he first tested him on his recitation of the Four Books and Five Classics, and only gave him an essay question at the end.

"White feathers float on green water, red palms push clear waves. Please write a 1000-word article based on white feathers, red palms, green water, clear waves and the country's selection of talents."

Zhao Yuanzhen: This is different from the test I thought of. Isn't it white hair_____green water, red palm_____?

Zhang Xinshu, however, remained calm. He took out his pen, ink, paper and inkstone and began to conceive and write his essay.

After more than an hour, Zhang Xinshu respectfully handed the written article to the tutor.

"This is well written. Although he is young, he has a strong character."

The Grand Tutor was very surprised when he saw the font of this article.

At such a young age, his calligraphy is so elegant, with magnificent momentum between the lines, strong and powerful, and awe-inspiring. It can be seen that he is a child with a ravine in his heart, and he has a heart of admiration for talent.

"Thank you for the compliment, Headmaster."

Zhang Xinshu stood up and saluted to the Grand Tutor.

The tutor nodded, raised his hand to signal him to sit down, and then continued to read the article.