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

Seeing that it was already late, Xu smiled and said, "Son, it's very late now. Go take a shower and go to bed. The hot water is in the pot. Your father and I are going to bed too. I have to get up early tomorrow to find a matchmaker to arrange marriages for your fifth and sixth sisters!"

"You should ask the matchmaker to check in advance. For ordinary families, forget about it. Marriage is all about matching the families' social status. Our family's status is different now, and our two daughters can't marry too badly," Zhang Laoer reminded.

After saying this, he thought of something, lowered his head and sighed, then shook his head and said, "Forget it, don't be too picky. Just see what the matchmaker says. It's all because of the way life is. After fleeing all the way to settle down, Wu Ya and Liu Ya are already old. Don't be too picky. If you delay it any longer, you will become an old maid who can't get married. That will be troublesome, especially Wu Ya!"

Xu replied, "I see. I know what's going on. I'm worried every day!"

"Dad, Mom, you guys go to bed first. We can talk about tomorrow's matters tomorrow. Our family is getting better and better now. Are the fifth and sixth sisters worried that they won't be able to get married? Besides, even if they can't get married, our family can support them for the rest of their lives," Zhang Ping'an advised.

Now his fame and honor are the basis for his words. Even if a juren does not become an official, he can still provide a good life for his whole family!

Xu said angrily, "It's not about whether the family can afford to support her. What girl wouldn't marry? You're still young, and you wouldn't understand even if I told you!"

After saying that, he stood up and called Zhang Laoer to go back to the room to rest.

How could Zhang Pingan really not understand, but given his status, he could always pick the best one if he took his time.

After thinking about this, Zhang Pingan got up and went to wash up. He felt much cooler after taking a shower!

A dreamless night!

When they woke up the next morning, Zhang Laoer and Xu had already gone out. Wu Ya and Liu Ya were embroidering handkerchiefs under the eaves. The two sisters had a good relationship and were talking and laughing.

Seeing Zhang Ping'an leave, Wu Ya looked up and said with a smile: "Little brother, breakfast is warming in the pot!"

"Okay, Fifth Sister and Sixth Sister, I will go out for a while after breakfast. Is there anything you want to bring?" Zhang Pingan asked.

"I have everything at home, there's nothing to buy," Wu Ya replied casually.

After Zhang Ping'an finished washing up, he went to the kitchen to eat breakfast, then slowly walked out, called a cart at the entrance of the alley and went to the cattle and horse market.

There is only one mule cart at home, which is really not very convenient. Zhang Ping'an plans to buy another big blue mule and equip it with a better frame so that he can use it when he goes out. This way, he won't have to call a cart, and it will be more decent!

Next to the cattle and horse market is the human market, which, as the name suggests, is a place dedicated to the buying and selling of human beings. People who come here either sell themselves as slaves or sell their children.

Or they are human traffickers working on their own.

It is easy to find people who can do rough work here, and the price is much cheaper than in big dental shops.

Zhang Ping'an knew that there were pawnshops that specialized in training maids and servants for wealthy families. They were more advanced and more expensive, but he still wanted to go to the human market first to pick out two that he liked, and then go to the pawnshop to ask if they didn't work out.

Most people can't stand the smell of Niuma Market, so they take a detour. Therefore, its location is very remote, almost out of the city in the south.

Zhang Ping'an was not able to adapt to the situation for a while after getting off the car. He almost stumbled from the fumes. His breakfast was churning in his stomach and he almost vomited it out. He took out a handkerchief to cover his mouth and nose and felt much better after adapting for a while.

There are many tricks to buying livestock, and it is easy to be cheated if you are not careful, so there are middlemen in the market who specialize in helping to identify livestock. The matchmaker's fee is generally around two or three hundred coins.

The middleman will help the employer find suitable livestock according to their needs and will also help bargain, which is very convenient for those who are not familiar with the business.

Zhang Ping'an didn't save the money and directly found a middleman to help him look at it, which cost him three hundred coins.

The middle man was a little old man with messy hair, unkempt appearance, dark face, cloudy eyes, and looked a little dirty, but his teeth were quite clean, which was why Zhang Ping'an chose him.

After collecting the intermediary fee, the old man followed Zhang Ping'an and began to introduce each one. "The good big blue mules on the market are all shipped in from other places, so they are not cheap. Most of them are between ten and fifteen taels. It depends on the quality of the mule. Those around five years old are the most expensive. At this age, the mules are fully mature and can produce labor. Mules also have a long lifespan and can live for more than thirty years. If you buy a young one, you can use it for many more years."

As he spoke, he opened the mule's mouth and let Zhang Ping'an see the teeth of different mules. Mules of similar age look similar, but an experienced person can tell the difference by looking at their teeth.

Zhang Ping'an saw two mules in the middle that looked similar and were of similar age, but their prices differed by two taels of silver. He was very puzzled.

The old man explained, "There's no such thing as a wrong purchase, a wrong sale. That cheaper mule obviously has a bad stomach. Its poop smells different. It'll be hard to take care of it!"

After saying that, he was about to pick up some mule feces with his hands to show Zhang Pingan the difference, but Zhang Pingan quickly stopped him: "Old man, I believe you are a professional. Let's take the expensive one. I'll buy this one!"

The old man felt a little regretful at being stopped. He hadn't finished his professional speech yet, but since the employer had decided, he just listened and said, "Okay, then I'll help you bargain. Just wait!"

After saying that, he went to find the dealer.

Zhang Ping'an was watching the old man analyze the pros and cons of the mule from head to toe, and his explanation was well-reasoned. In the end, he returned 600 coins, and the mule seller refused to give any lower price. The old man couldn't help but look over. Zhang Ping'an thought the price was reasonable, so he nodded.

In the end, this eight-year-old blue mule was bought for 12 taels.

The old man touched the mule's head happily and said, "This mule is in its prime, and there's nothing wrong with it. It's easy to keep, and the price is worth it!"

Zhang Ping'an could see that the other party was not lying, so he readily signed the deed and paid the money.

After leading the mule out of the cattle and horse market, Zhang Ping'an went to the nearby human market.

This was also his first time in Ren City. He had only heard of such a place before.

As soon as I entered the market, many traffickers came up to me and asked, "Sir, what do you want to buy? I have everything for men, women, young and old!"

So noisy!

Zhang Pingan said in a deep voice: "Let me take a look myself first!"

After saying that, he ignored these people and continued walking forward with the mule. He wanted to take a walk first.

The eyes of human traffickers are the most vicious, especially those who work alone, travel far and wide, and have a wide range of knowledge.

Those who have some bottom line are those who go to remote areas or disaster-stricken areas to buy goods, while those who have no bottom line simply cheat and deceive people to make a profit.

Although the business is legal, Zhang Ping'an always feels a little disgusted with these people.

After walking around the human market, Zhang Ping'an found that there were basically no young women. Most of the people were old and young men, all of whom had straw tags on their heads and had numb eyes. But when Zhang Ping'an walked past them, there was a hint of expectation in their eyes.

It makes people feel very uncomfortable watching it!

Zhang Ping'an couldn't stand this look, and was about to go to the pawnshop to have a look when he suddenly heard someone calling him. He turned around and saw it was Guo Jia!

"Why are you here?" they both asked at the same time.

Guo Jia patted his head and smiled, then replied, "I came here with our steward to buy two maids to do the laundry. By the way, I just returned to the inn last night, and the concierge told me that you came to see me and told me that you passed the imperial examination. I was just planning to go to your house in the afternoon when I was free to congratulate you!"

Zhang Pingan smiled and said, "That's a coincidence! I was planning to come here to buy a maid to do some cleaning work, and also buy an old man to take care of the door. My family is moving tomorrow, so I have to buy someone. I also said that I would go to your inn to ask about your news after I leave!"