Being an emperor is not something he can do, so he can only rely on his connections.

Before returning home, Zhang Jingwei went to Gao Fei's house to see how Tian Cao was doing. When he just stepped into the Gao family's door, he was shocked by the scene before him - he saw Wang Ergou beating Tian Cao.

Seeing this, Zhang Jingwei was furious and shouted, "Stop! Stop it right now!" This roar was like a bolt from the blue, instantly shocking Wang Ergou who was committing the violence.

Wang Ergou heard the shout and hurriedly stopped what he was doing. He turned around and looked at Zhang Jingwei with a terrified face, stammering, "Young... Young Master!"

Zhang Jingwei, with a gloomy face, walked up quickly, pointed at Wang Ergou and asked, "Why are you hitting him again?"

Wang Ergou quickly bowed his head and admitted his mistake, explaining, "Master, calm down. This is what happened. Tian Cao suddenly quit writing halfway through, and no matter how I tried to persuade him, it was useless. That's why I wanted to talk him into some sense."

Zhang Jingwei snorted coldly and retorted, "Humph! You call this being reasonable? Look at what you've done to him! He's just a weak scholar. If he gets hurt by you, who will do the homework for him? Are you going to do it?"

Wang Ergou knew he was in the wrong and quickly knelt down to apologize: "I know I was wrong, please punish me, Master!"

Zhang Jingwei glared at Wang Ergou fiercely, then turned and walked towards Tian Cao, who was lying on the ground groaning. He squatted down and asked softly, "Tian Linsheng, why did you suddenly refuse to write? Did you encounter any difficulties?"

Tian Cao rubbed the wounds on his body painfully, and replied with a groan: "Ouch... Ouch, it's really not that I'm deliberately lazy, it's just that I haven't eaten a single grain of rice since yesterday. I'm so hungry that I'm seeing stars, my hands and feet are weak, and I simply don't have the strength to write anymore..."

After hearing this, Zhang Jingwei turned around and told a man in black beside him, "Go buy a roast chicken."

The man in black took the order and left. Not long after, he returned with a fragrant roast chicken.

The roast chicken smelled so fragrant that Tian Cao's saliva was flowing. Zhang Jingwei took the roast chicken, broke off a leg, shook it in front of Tian Cao, and then put it into his mouth and chewed it.

Zhang Jingwei raised the corner of his mouth slightly and asked softly, "Is it fragrant?"

Tian Cao's eyes lit up and he nodded vigorously in response, "Delicious! Thank you, Young Master Zhang..." His greedy look made people laugh.

However, Zhang Jingwei remained expressionless as he said calmly, "Hey... Such delicious roast chicken! As long as you finish your homework, you can have as many as you want." He then turned and instructed Wang Ergou, who was standing beside him, "Gouzi, take these chickens and share them with the brothers!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Ergou immediately had a sly smile on his face and quickly replied, "Okay!" Then he happily began to divide the chicken.

Zhang Jingwei now turned his gaze to Tian Cao and said in a serious tone, "Because of you, my brothers haven't had a single sip of water or a single grain of rice from morning till night! Doesn't your conscience hurt? Please have pity on us brothers who have worked so hard for you, and hurry up and do the questions!"

Tian Cao felt a surge of resentment when he heard this, tears welling up in his eyes, but he fought hard to hold them back. He wiped his nose with his hand, took a deep breath, and went back to work on his homework.

After the two men left the room, Wang Ergou couldn't wait to get close to Zhang Jingwei and kept praising him, "Master, this move of yours is really brilliant!"

Zhang Jingwei smiled faintly and said confidently, "He said before that he would hand it in by today. If he can't, we shouldn't rush him. You know, if the strings are too tight, they will break easily, but if they are too loose, the sound won't be pleasant. So, we have to strike the right balance."

Wang Ergou suddenly understood and nodded repeatedly, saying, "I'm grateful for your advice!"

Zhang Jingwei's expression straightened up immediately, and he lowered his voice to instruct Wang Ergou, "Also, send a few smart people to keep an eye on the prefectural governor's mansion. Report to me immediately if there's any movement!"

Wang Ergou replied respectfully, "Yes! Master, don't worry. I will definitely take care of this matter!"

Qian Ming had been waiting anxiously outside the door for a long time. He stood on tiptoe from time to time to look inside the door. When he finally saw Zhang Jingwei, his face immediately showed joy. He hurried forward and asked:

"Master, I've been waiting for you here for a long time! Just now, I saw people coming in and out, and I was worried about your safety. I wanted to rush in to check, but the door was locked for some reason. Fortunately, now that I see that you are safe and sound, I can finally put my worries to rest... Hey, why do I smell the aroma of roast chicken?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jingwei subconsciously reached out to wipe the grease residue from the corner of his mouth, then pretended to be nonchalant and said, "Where did you get the roast chicken? Is there something wrong with your nose, you greedy bastard?"

Qian Ming chuckled, scratched his head and said, "Master, don't try to fool me! I have a very sharp nose, I can't be wrong. Speaking of which, that roast chicken we had at Yunding Temple before, wow, the taste was simply the most delicious thing on earth. Even now, thinking about it makes me salivate! If you hadn't stopped me from taking it away, I would definitely have taken it home and let my wife and children taste this delicacy."

Zhang Jingwei rolled his eyes at him and said unhappily, "Don't you still get two strings of silver every month? If you want roast chicken, go buy it yourself. Can't you afford it?"

Upon hearing this, Qian Ming's expression darkened and he sighed, "Young Master, you don't know. Although I do receive two strings of silver as salary every month, I have elderly parents and young children at home, and our family of five all depend on this little money to survive. In the past, we could still get some harvest from the fields, and we could barely get by. But now... Alas!" At this point, Qian Ming couldn't help shaking his head, his face full of worry.

Seeing this, Zhang Jingwei couldn't help but feel a trace of pity in his heart. He patted Qian Ming on the shoulder and comforted him, "Okay, okay, there's no need to be so worried. Don't worry, I will find a way to help you get your land back, and the land of all of you!"

After hearing this, Qian Ming's eyes lit up, and he was so excited that he almost knelt down to express his gratitude: "Thank you so much, young master, for your kindness! If you can really get the land back, then our family will be saved!"

The economy in northern China is actually doing well now, and prices aren't very high. A roast chicken costs only 50 wen, and a roast goose is a bit more expensive, but only 80 wen. Fruits and vegetables are all very cheap, but rice is the only thing that's always been expensive. One tael of silver buys a dan of brown rice, while polished rice costs two to three times as much. This polished rice is actually called germ rice, while the real polished rice was the tribute rice eaten by the royal family. After the germ rice is beaten, a specialist removes the sprouts, which is what we now eat as rice.