The journey of the only child of a peasant family to take the imperial examination

"Who killed him?" Zhang Pingan was shocked and asked quickly.

Everyone in the yamen looked terrified. The emperor had been killed and the imperial power was unstable. For civil servants like them, it was like the sky was falling.

One of the clerks who had a good relationship with Zhang Pingan quickly whispered, "Mr. Zhang, keep your voice down!"

Zhang Pingan quickly moved over and joined the small group of people talking. He lowered his voice and asked, "What's going on? Tell me quickly."

The clerk said, "It is said that the emperor was assassinated by a Tatar assassin while offering sacrifices to his ancestors in the Imperial Ancestral Temple. I don't know the details, but the government office will soon issue an official document stating that the throne will now be inherited by the emperor's eldest son."

Another person asked, "When the emperor travels, what a grand ceremony it must be, how could he be assassinated so easily?"

"Who knows? Maybe the dragon energy in His Majesty's body is too weak. The throne has changed hands in just a hundred days," someone shook his head.

"Alas, what can we do? It's destined. It happens to be the hundredth day of the late emperor's death. It's against the ancestral precepts for His Majesty not to go to the Taimiao to worship his ancestors. It's unacceptable. Who knew that this villain would take advantage of the opportunity? I just hope that the Sixth Prince will not take the opportunity to rebel. I hope everything will be peaceful. Otherwise, our life will be difficult. Now the price of rice, flour and rapeseed has more than doubled compared to last year. Who can afford to live if it goes on like this?" sighed an elderly clerk.

After everyone talked a lot, Zhang Ping'an finally figured out the general situation. It turned out that the emperor was assassinated seven or eight days ago. The news only reached Yuezhou yesterday, and the government office was about to issue an official document.

Zhang Pingan quickly asked for leave from the leader: "Wu Dianshi, I'm taking a leave this morning. I have to go and stock up on some rice. Otherwise, once the official document is sent out, those big merchants will double the price of grain again. With my meager monthly salary, my whole family will have to eat thin porridge!"

Wu Dianshi stroked his beard and nodded, smiling, "Mr. Zhang, if it were you, you really should hire a servant. You don't need to do all these errands yourself. They've already told the servants to buy them!"

The young clerk who had a good relationship with Zhang Pingan continued, "Brother Zhang, if you're really short of money, you can go to the West Market and buy some. Just go directly to Zhao, the magistrate of the West Market, and tell him my name. You can buy cheap brown rice and whole grains there and mix them with white rice. At least you won't go hungry!"

This person is very talkative and likes to nag. Other people in the yamen think he is too nagging and don't like to chat with him.

Since Zhang Ping'an came, this person has finally found someone to talk to. Zhang Ping'an never finds him annoying and is a good listener, so this person is willing to do him a favor and build a good relationship with Zhang Ping'an.

"Thank you very much, Brother Wang. I'll treat you to a drink some other day," Zhang Ping'an said with a smile and bowed to express his gratitude.

Wang Jingzhi felt relieved after hearing this and waved his hand, saying, "Why should we be polite to each other? Let's go!"

Zhang Ping'an went to the West Market to find Zhao Shiling. After he told him Wang Jingzhi's name, Zhao Shiling laughed and said, "Haha, the sun really rises from the west. This is the first time my cousin has introduced someone to me for help. I must help you. How much do you want?"

Of course the more the better, Zhang Pingan thought, but he couldn't say it like that, lest he give the other party the impression that he was greedy.

It was only at this time that he found out that Wang Jingzhi and Zhao Shiling were cousins.

"Cousin Zhao, to be honest, we have a large family. How much can you offer? Any price within a reasonable range is fine. Please don't make it difficult for me. It would be my fault if I do," Zhang Ping'an said with a smile.

Mayor Zhao thought for a moment and said, "If you don't mind the inclusion of coarse grains, like soybeans, kidney beans, sorghum, and tan flour, you can just pay the purchase price. A few hundred kilograms is no problem. For rice and flour, you can charge 80% of the market price. How about that?"

This is great! Zhang Pingan was very surprised. It was great to be able to fill his stomach!

"Thank you, cousin Zhao. I'll start with 1000 kilograms of coarse grains and 500 kilograms of rice and flour," said Zhang Ping'an.

We have been in Yuezhou for so long, except for a large purchase of food on the second day after renting a house, no one has bought much since then. The price of food is getting higher and higher, and we are even more reluctant to buy food and stockpile it. I guess we have almost eaten it all by now.

Zhang Pingan planned to keep a small half for himself and distribute the rest to everyone. Since the benefits should not be shared by outsiders, of course everyone should share this benefit!

When they heard that there was cheap food to buy, everyone was very enthusiastic and each family sent one person to go to the West Market to buy food.

Especially Liu the butcher and his wife and Erya's parents-in-law who are in the food business, their food is consumed particularly quickly, their rice jar is about to be empty, and they are preparing to buy expensive food!

"This is really timely rain, it brings us peace," said Erya's mother-in-law, smiling as she touched the grain bag.

Mrs. Liu the butcher also laughed and said, "Yes, Ping'an is very promising. He can meet capable people wherever he goes."

Even people with mean temperaments like my aunt Shen and my third aunt Ma couldn't help but join in the fun, praising him, "Ever since he was little, I've seen Ping'an as a very clever child. He's really going to be the most promising when he grows up."

Xu said proudly, "Of course, our family will be very prosperous in the future. We are destined to live a good life!"

"Yes, yes, you are right," Ma agreed.

Zhang Ping'an only took half a day off. After finishing all these tasks, he had to go back to the yamen and told everyone, "The emperor has been assassinated and the new emperor has ascended the throne. The notices in the yamen should have been posted by now. I'm afraid that the price of grain will continue to rise. Everyone should eat sparingly. If you have extra money, it won't hurt to stock up on more food."

"We understand. As long as we have food in our hands, we won't be worried," Li said with a smile. She lived a frugal life and usually ate less food. Now there is actually a lot left at home. With the new food bought today, it is enough to eat for a long time. She feels very at ease.

When Zhang Ping'an returned to the yamen, the notice had indeed been posted.

He first went to thank Wang Jingzhi. No matter what, he had already owed the other party a favor, so he should thank him.

Wang Jingzhi said indifferently: "I'm glad I helped you. Although I don't have any great abilities, I still have a few capable relatives. We have such a good relationship, and I can't bear to see you starve. I definitely wouldn't help others. They all muttered about me being a sissy behind my back, thinking I didn't know, humph!"

Zhang Ping'an was ashamed. Fortunately, he didn't like to talk about other people's shortcomings or gossip, otherwise he would have inadvertently lost another important connection!

When I got home in the evening, Xu had already prepared dinner and Zhang Laoer was also home.

"Ping'an, do you still remember the classmate who passed the exam to become a scholar with you?" Zhang Laoer asked thoughtfully.

Zhang Pingan was a little confused: "Dad, who are you talking about?"

"He's the one from a scholarly family, his surname is Lin," said Zhang Laoer.