On the second day, Yingbao, her father, her younger brother, Mr. Wu, Yuanbao and others boarded a large merchant ship.
Wei Zhan also accompanied him with a servant.
Of course, there are also several students living in the Jiang family.
During the voyage, Yuanbao discussed the past and present with other students, and with the explanation of Mr. Wu, it really broadened his horizons and calmed his mind a lot.
Yingbao stayed in the cabin alone, sorting out the things in the cave.
Her ginseng seeds have fully sprouted and grown two leaves. It is estimated that in another two years, there will be four or five leaves.
The several precious medicinal herbs that I planted nearby are also growing well.
These medicinal herbs are also perennial, and the older they are, the better their efficacy.
The golden ear and snow ear have also been harvested, and there are more than 100 kilograms of dry goods stored in her cave. From the Chinese New Year to now, all the harvested mushroom ears are stored here.
However, it is summer now and the mushroom ear sales in her own shop are not very high, so she is not planning to sell the products to the shop for the time being.
Taking into account the possible chaos and war in the future, Yingbao decided to take some time out to buy food and cotton cloth.
Anyway, he had several thousand taels of silver, and it would be a waste to keep the money in the cave. It would be better to exchange it for food, seeds, cotton, cloth and other real things.
Of course, you also have to secretly store some weapons.
However, iron weapons such as broadswords are not easy to buy, and farmers like them don’t know where to buy them unless they find gang members or go through the underworld.
But that is too risky. If you are not careful, you will be caught and have endless troubles in the future.
Yingbao was thinking, and suddenly thought of her own cave.
It is not difficult for her to collect things. Otherwise, she can save some big stones. If she meets bad people, she can use the big stones to smash them to death.
Thinking of that scene, Yingbao smiled and took out a bunch of grapes to eat.
The merchant ship encountered a heavy rainstorm when it was halfway on the river.
The strong wind caused the ship to sway from side to side.
Jiang Sanlang was afraid that his children would be scared, so he gathered them all in one cabin.
Yuanbao had never encountered such a situation before and was so scared that his face turned pale. Fortunately, the ship sailed safely for two days and finally arrived at the Qinchuan County Pier.
It was still raining at this time. Yingbao took out several raincoats made of oilcloth from the cave and gave them to her family members and Mr. Wu, and even gave one to Wei Zhan.
Wei Zhan's servant ran off the boat first, called a few porters and two ox carts, and carried all their boxes and cages down and loaded them onto the ox carts.
Seeing that the two students couldn't find a cart, Jiang Sanlang invited them to ride in the ox cart he had hired.
There was a mat cover on the oxcart, which could barely keep out the rain, but rain still dripped into the cart.
Yingbao and her younger brother Yuanbao huddled together, with a large oilcloth placed over their heads.
Wei Zhan also came in, winked at Jiang Jie, and asked, "Jiang Jie, when will you return to Chuanhe Town?"
Jiang Jie: "Master said we should wait until the Ming Mansion summons us before we go back."
After the college examination is over, the county magistrate must summon the fifteen students in the county who have passed the examination.
The county magistrate also has to arrange for this year's new students to attend the county school for further studies.
There are a total of fifty or sixty students in the county school. This is the quota given by the imperial court. If new students are added this year, those with the worst performance in the exam will inevitably be expelled.
Therefore, Jiang Jie cannot enter the county school now. He can only enter after the annual examination based on his examination grade.
Wei Zhan turned to Yuan Bao again: "Aren't you going back either?"
Yuan Bao hesitated: "We'll talk about it when the time comes."
He has benefited a lot from studying with Mr. Wu recently, and naturally wants to continue attending his classes, but Mr. Wu has not agreed to accept him as a disciple. It seems not good for him to keep sticking with him.
Wei Zhan showed his big white teeth to Ying Bao again: "Ying Bao, you want to go home too?"
Yingbao nodded: "Of course."
"I'll go to your house and play with Jiang Wu, too." Wei Zhan said with a smile, "I haven't seen Hu Zi and Yuan Bao for a long time."
Yingbao: "Aren't you going to school in the county town?"
Wei Zhan shook his head: "Your village also has a school, I can just go to school in the village school."
He didn't expect to pass the imperial examination, and the school in Dongchen Village also taught martial arts, so it was most suitable for him to study there.
The key is that I can often be with...Hu Zi Jiang Wu.
An hour later, the ox cart finally entered the county town and stopped at the gate of the Jiang family compound.
After several people got off the car, Jiang Sanlang asked the driver to send the two students on the stipend home.
After returning home, Jiang Sanlang hurried to the kitchen to boil water for Mr. Wu to wash.
Because the old man's clothes and hair were wet, he had to take a shower, wash his hair and change his clothes.
Yingbao and her brothers also started to get busy, cleaning the tables, chairs and the floor, even scrubbing the kang mat.
Wei Zhan's servant was named Wei Zhong, who was about fourteen or fifteen years old and very smart. After he put the young master's suitcases and luggage away, he went to help Jiang Sanlang with his work.
Seeing that a helper had arrived, Jiang Sanlang decided to go out to buy some vegetables, then he saw the little girl running towards him holding an umbrella.
"Dad, I'm going to buy some vegetables. You can cook at home first." There are more than ten people to eat at home, and the vegetables in his cave are simply overflowing. If he doesn't eat them, they will be wasted.
Jiang Sanlang couldn't persuade his daughter, so he had to agree: "Then be careful when you go out."
"I got it." Yingbao is nine years old now and is very familiar with the county town. It is no big deal for her to buy groceries or go shopping by herself.
Moreover, the security in the county is relatively good, and no one dares to kidnap a grown girl in broad daylight.
Yingbao walked out of the alley holding an umbrella and came to an abandoned house with piles of stones and bricks.
Using an umbrella as a cover, she collected four or five large stones, and then took out a backpack filled with vegetables, fruits and melons.
After sending the things in the backpack back home, Yingbao went to the vegetable market.
Because of the rain, there were not many people in the market, except for a fish vendor.
Seeing that his fish was quite fresh, Yingbao bought two.
The vendor pierced the fish's gills with two grass stems and handed it to her.
Yingbao took the fish and slowly walked back home.
When passing by a grain shop, I went in to ask the price, and it turned out that a dou of rice cost sixty cents.
The shelled brown rice costs one hundred cents.
If we ask about other grains, including the wheat that was just harvested this year, the price is also 10% to 20% higher than in previous years.
When did the grain production in Qinchuan County become more expensive than that in the provincial capital
Yingbao was confused and asked her servant why the price of rice had gone up.
The waiter said, "I don't know either. The price is set by the shopkeeper. If you think it's too expensive, you don't have to buy it."
Seeing Yingbao still glaring at him, the clerk continued, "I heard that someone in our county is buying grain at a high price, taking as much as they can, and then transporting it away on large merchant ships. More than a dozen large grain stores in our county can't get grain, so it would be strange if the price didn't go up."
There are tens of thousands of people in a county town. If each person eats half a pound of food a day, hundreds of thousands of pounds of food will be consumed every month. Where does this food come from
"Has the price of rice increased in other counties as well?" Yingbao asked.
The clerk rolled his eyes at her and said, "How would I know? Anyway, if the shopkeeper tells me to raise the price, then it will go up."
Yingbao frowned and turned back.
It's strange that someone in the county town bought grain at a high price and transported it away, but the county magistrate did nothing about it.