The Second Sister of a Farmer's Family's Path to Imperial Destiny

"I wonder if Madam Hu wants to ask me anything?"

When Mr. Xia learned that the richest man in the county actually wanted to discuss something with him, he was surprised and frightened. He did not dare to delay for even a moment and rushed over immediately.

Mrs. Hu raised her hand, and the maid beside her hurriedly asked Mr. Xia to sit down.

"I came here to ask your son Xia Zisheng for help."

"My boy? If Madam has any plans, just let me know. I will make sure my boy will do it properly."

Although Mr. Xia was a teacher in a private school in Yong'an County, and although he was somewhat aloof and arrogant, that was in comparison with his students and ordinary people.

When facing Mrs. Hu, who has huge wealth, all that nobleness and pride means nothing. Besides, Mrs. Hu will definitely not let him do these things in vain.

Mrs. Hu nodded with satisfaction and said slowly, "I heard that your son's grades have always been good, and he is a student under Fang Tairu, so I would like to ask you to help your son help Zong Rui with his studies, so that he can pass the examination in ten days."

"I heard that you have always wanted to teach in a private school. If you can do this job well, I will transfer you to my private school as a teacher."

When Mr. Xia heard this, he stood up in surprise and said, "Thank you, Madam. I will definitely do this job better than you expected."

He had long been bored with his original academy. The students did not respect the teacher, and his dream of having three thousand students was impossible to realize in that private school. Moreover, the wages were very low.

Since my son went to Donglin Academy, the family expenses have increased a bit. My wife also went out to work as an embroiderer, and the children at home can only rely on me to help take care of them.

He had always wanted to go to a better private school, but although there were not many juren in Yong'an County, there were not many private schools either, and there were fewer teachers needed. Most of them were very limited, so how could he get a turn?

If he could go to the Hu family's private school at this time, not only would his salary be twice as much as before, but the students he taught would mostly be eager to learn. In this way, his teaching career would be considered very good.

Madam Hu nodded to the maid, who took out a ten-liang silver coin and said, "This is the deposit from Madam, please keep it."

Looking at the ten taels of silver in front of him, Xia Juren took it in his arms, bowed deeply and said, "Thank you very much, Madam. I will go find Zisheng and ask him to take care of the matter. I will definitely let your son pass the exam in ten days!"

……

"Dad, do you want me to teach him to read?"

After listening to Mr. Xia's request, Xia Zisheng looked reluctant. He didn't have much time to begin with, and now he had to teach Hu Zongrui, who was not focused on studying. How could he catch up with his homework?

Suddenly, he thought of something. Hu Zongrui and Guo Xi were good friends. He had admired Guo Xi more and more recently, but he had never had the chance to talk to him. If he taught Hu Zongrui, would that mean he would have more opportunities to interact with Guo Xi?

"I can go teach Hu Zongrui."

"That's great." Mr. Xia was a little excited when he heard the answer. This way, the family's money would be settled. If Zisheng didn't want to teach Hu Zongrui, he didn't intend to force him, but now that Zisheng was willing, that was the best.

Xia Zisheng looked at his father in front of him with some confusion. Why was his father so happy that he agreed to teach Hu Zongrui? Even if Mrs. Hu agreed to give him a reward, it shouldn't make his father so excited, right?

Could it be that the family’s financial situation was not as optimistic as he had imagined?

But hasn’t dad been teaching in the private school recently and everything has been quite stable. I just seem to have heard dad complain about the students in the private school when he was at home before. But what does that have to do with the money in our family?

But no matter what, he fulfilled his family's wish and taught Hu Zongrui, which also helped his family earn some money.

When I returned to my dormitory and was about to go find Hu Zongrui with the book, I saw him coming towards me.

"Zisheng, my mother asked me to come to you to help me." Hu Zongrui looked reluctant.

Xia Zisheng ignored his expression and opened the book by himself and said, "Is there anything you don't understand? If not, I will review with you what the teacher taught today."

Hu Zongrui sat aside reluctantly and said, "I haven't listened to today's lesson yet. I don't even know what it's about. How can I review it?"

Then he grumbled in dissatisfaction: "If it weren't for my mother's request that I pass the exam in this school, I would be allowed to continue doing business in the future, I wouldn't want to come to you. It's not like I haven't listened to your lessons enough on weekdays."

Xia Zisheng naturally heard Hu Zongrui's complaints and asked in confusion: "Are you doing business?"

"Yes, I have been doing it all along and I have made quite a bit of money. My family members all praise me for my talent in this area. I skipped school yesterday just to seize the opportunity. Otherwise, the chance to make money would have slipped through my fingers, and I would have been so upset!"

Xia Zi became curious. He thought that all the students who came to the academy were here to study for the purpose of obtaining a title. He did not expect that Hu Zongrui was actually a businessman. He asked, "What did you leave for yesterday?"

"You haven't even attended the academy yet, so you probably don't know that the imperial court has been recruiting soldiers recently. And this recruitment is different from the past. This time we are really going to fight."

"I heard that the war situation on the border is tense. If a war breaks out, the soldiers will have to eat, which means that more food will be needed. However, there are always more mouths to feed, and last year's harvest was not good. I am afraid that the price of food will go up."

"I will immediately order people to buy up grain everywhere. As long as there is grain, I will buy it. When the price goes up, I can sell it. I will make a lot of money."

"And the court will definitely collect the grain. Although the court hasn't issued an order yet, it must be because of the policy and procedures. If I sell it to the court, I can make a lot of money."

When Hu Zongrui mentioned this matter, he spoke very clearly and eloquently.

As Xia Zisheng listened, he was impressed by his talent as a businessman. If the imperial court had such a calculating businessman, it would not have to worry about the empty treasury and insufficient funds for war.

At the same time, I feel very sad. Now is a year of famine, and people like Hu Zongrui do not think about sharing some of the burden for the court, but instead think about how to make a fortune from it. Is he still a person with conscience?

Can't he see that people's lives today are miserable?

Xia Zisheng looked at Hu Zongrui who was still explaining his grand plan, and couldn't help asking, "If you make a fortune from this, won't the people who can't afford to eat become even more unable to eat?"

"What does that have to do with me? Am I the one who made them unable to afford food? It should be the court's job to make sure they can afford food! If I don't work for my own interests, then one day I will also be unable to afford food."

Hu Zongrui said with disdain that he did not intend to be an official, he only wanted to be a businessman. How to balance merchants and ordinary people was the court's business, what did it have to do with him?