The Daily Life of a Rich Peasant's Boy in the Imperial Examination

Early in the morning, all the men in Da Niao Village went to the workshops, leaving behind only the elderly, the weak, the sick, the disabled, and the pregnant women. They were delighted to see Sun Shan.

An old man ran over in a hurry. Sun Shan was really afraid that he would fall, so he immediately stepped forward to support him.

When you are old, don't think you are still young. The elderly are most afraid of falling, and they often die soon after a fall.

The old man said excitedly: "Sir, you are here?"

Then he asked, "Have you eaten?"

Sun Shan was amused and said with a smile, "Not yet."

We rode as fast as we could, but it was already noon when we arrived at Da Niao Village, so we had no time to eat.

When the old man heard this, he immediately pulled Sun Shan inside and said, "Sir, please come to my house and eat. I have some white rice. I'll cook it for you."

Sun Shan quickly shook his head and said, "Master, I don't want to eat anymore. I have to go to the workshop first to take a look."

The old man shook his head and said, "Sir, the workshop is very good. All the men in the village work there, producing that guano fertilizer. Don't worry, they have been working during the New Year and have not been lazy."

Then, with a grin showing his large yellow teeth, he said, "Sir, thanks to you, my family can now have a meal of white rice. Haha, before the New Year, when I got my wages, I decided to go to town and buy a small bag of millet. On New Year's Eve, I'll cook a pot of white rice for the whole family to eat together."

Then he continued, "There's still quite a bit left. I'll cook it for you now. It's midday, and you must be hungry. I'll try cooking after you've finished eating. Sir, with Manager Sun and the village chief here, the workshop will be fine. Yesterday, when I had nothing better to do, I went to the workshop and saw everything was going great. They've produced a lot of guano fertilizer. It'll definitely be useful during the spring plowing season."

This old man is very outgoing and keeps talking non-stop.

Perhaps because Sun Shan was too approachable, or perhaps because he had no official authority, the old man was not afraid at all and treated Sun Shan as an ordinary person with whom he could chat.

Even though Sun Shan's stomach was full, he didn't dare to stay for dinner.

Didn’t the old man say that he only bought a small bag and he must not be willing to eat it all, so there are some left.

With a group of people like Sun Shan, they might be able to kill this little bag of rice.

This is the big white rice that the old man has been thinking about all his life.

Although rice is grown in Yuanlu County, there is little grain left after paying taxes.

Eating rice dry is definitely not enough, so most people would sell the millet and exchange it for some rice bran that the rich families don’t eat.

Then mix it with rice or other rations such as sweet potatoes.

It is not easy to eat a pure white rice.

Back then, Sun Bomin and Su Shi also ate sweet potato rice, while only Sun Shan and Huang Shi could eat clean white rice. Even though the Sun family was considered a wealthy peasant, life was not easy, not to mention the impoverished Da Niao Village.

Sun Shan refused decisively: "Master, you are so thoughtful. Thank you very much. But I can't rest easy without seeing the workshop. The workshop is more important. I will come to your house for dinner when I have time."

Seeing Sun Shan so serious, the old man knew that he had to check out the bird droppings workshop first.

Lianlian said, "Your Excellency is right. You can eat later, but you have to do your work first. Your Excellency, go to the workshop and take a look. You will come back for dinner later and I will cook for you."

Gui Ge'er, who was standing next to him, quickly said, "Master, we won't be coming back to eat. We'll eat over at the workshop. Running back and forth will make us even hungrier. We might as well just eat over there."

After hearing this, the old man was speechless.

It is indeed better to eat at the workshop than to run back and forth, since they also cook there.

Sun Shan said goodbye to the old man and continued walking forward.

This time we can drive the carriage forward, as the road that was built at great expense before the New Year is now open.

While Sun Shan was talking to the old man, County Magistrate Wang stood aside and rolled his eyes secretly.

Finally, when Sun Shan finished talking to the old man, he immediately got on the carriage and left.

I really couldn't understand what Sun Shan and the old farmer had to talk about. They just kept talking about eating, which was a complete waste of time.

County Magistrate Wang did not look down on the old man like some nouveau riche. After all, Old Man Wang had once been at the bottom of society, and the "rural" background of his family had not yet faded.

It’s hard to say what will happen to Wang Jijun’s generation. They are already the third generation of wealth, and those at the top may have already lost touch with the people at the bottom.

Sun Shan and his group continued to move forward. The road was well built, so it was very easy to walk on.

County Magistrate Wang added, "Sir, the newly repaired road is truly different. Look, you can even drive on it."

Sun Shan agreed, saying, "That's right. So we have to arrange for the laborers to continue repairing the road. If the laborers' service period ends, we can recruit others to repair the road."

County Magistrate Wang's eyes widened in surprise as he asked, "Sir, building roads costs a lot of money. The money we've collected is almost gone. I'm afraid we won't be able to pay the workers if we hire more people to build the road."

Sun Shan glanced at County Magistrate Wang meaningfully, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

He said gently, "Sir Wang, have you forgotten? Not long ago, Inspector Liang dug up a small wooden box in the land temple. Haha, we can use the contents of the box to repair the road. Our government still has money."

County Magistrate Wang: ...

a bolt from the blue!

He knew that Sun Shan would not give the money away for nothing, and it seemed that he had been eyeing the money for a long time.

Today the purpose is stated more directly: to build roads.

County Magistrate Wang disapproved strongly and said, "Sir, the contents of that wooden box are still waiting to be divided. I'm afraid everyone will not agree if you use it to build the road."

Monster! It seems that Lord Sun didn't intend to share the money from the beginning, but to use it for other purposes.

A few hundred taels is not a lot, but not a small amount either. If the people in the yamen are divided up, they can get a lot and can work for one or two months less.

Sun Shan embezzled the money, and the government must have objections.

Sun Shan was not afraid that the people in the yamen would rebel against him and beat him up so that he would not obey orders in the future.

The goodwill that Sun Shan had worked so hard to earn disappeared immediately.

County Magistrate Wang didn't really want to share the money. Whether it was shared or not would not affect his ability to have enough food and clothing.

But it was different for the officials below. A few taels was a lot of money for them.

Sun Shan said helplessly: "First of all, this small wooden box was given to Yuanlu County by the land, so of course we should make good use of it and build bridges and roads to benefit the people of Yuanlu.

Secondly, if the higher-ups investigate in the future and see that it is used to benefit the local people, they will have nothing to say. Lord Wang, let's not get stuck with this small amount of money. Once we sell the guano fertilizer, hehe, it will be a huge source of income and we will all get rich together."

County Magistrate Wang did not believe Sun Shan's words, but he did not refute them either.

He just said emphatically: "How you deal with it is your business. As long as the people below have no objection, I will have no objection either."

Haha, we have to see how Sun Shan handles it. The people in the yamen are not pushovers. They will not be happy to spend such a good sum of money on the people.

County Magistrate Wang was ready to cross his legs, hug his beautiful concubine, prepare some melon seeds and tea, and get ready to watch the show.