"You can get up now," Fu Zhiyu said, also looking at him carefully, "You have a good eye. How did you recognize me?"
After the man stood up, he knew that Fu Zhiyu was very confused, so he took the initiative to explain: "Some time ago, when the city was offering sacrifices, I went to join in the fun and had the honor of meeting King Zhao. King Zhao's grace was unforgettable."
Fu Zhiyu looked at him suspiciously, feeling that things were not that simple.
Just based on that distant glance during the sacrifice
"Of course, I can't recognize Prince Zhao just by this," the man continued, still very humbly lowering his head to explain, "I used to study in the capital, and I also worshipped at the door of Xu Daxueshi. When I was in Fengyue Tower, I met Prince Zhao many times, but Prince Zhao's status is too noble, so he can't remember me."
Scholar Xu is Fu Zhiyu's teacher. All of his students are extraordinary. Even if they cannot reach Shen Yang's level, they are still rare talents. How come they come here
"Lift your head and show me."
Fu Zhiyu has a good memory. He looked at the face. Although it looked much older, he still had some impression of it.
"You are..." Fu Zhiyu tried hard to recall the person's name, but couldn't match it for a moment.
Before Fu Zhiyu could remember, the man introduced himself: "I am Zhang Lin."
When he said the name, Fu Zhiyu had an impression of it.
This person was not an ordinary student. He was a Jinshi who passed the imperial examination. He was from the same class as Shen Yang and ranked 35th. He was also in the upper-middle class among the Jinshi. In his previous life, the imperial examination was handled by Fu Zhiyu. When the results were announced, he wrote the name Zhang Lin himself.
Although there were fraud cases both times, he was not implicated. But Fu Zhiyu remembered that after passing the imperial examination, he followed Prime Minister Xue's class. But everyone knows what Prime Minister Xue's situation is now. In short, he was on the wrong side.
There was a reason why Fu Zhiyu didn't have a deep impression of him. Although he followed Prime Minister Xue, he didn't have time to do anything and was still in the training stage when his backers collapsed. Although the fire in the city gate affected the innocent, it shouldn't have ended up like this, right
"King Zhao, do you remember?"
"Why are you here?" Fu Zhiyu looked him up and down, wondering, "Did something happen in the capital?"
Zhang Lin shook his head and said, "There is nothing wrong in the capital. In fact, when Prime Minister Xue of the previous dynasty got into trouble, the common people were not affected at all. Moreover, the new emperor was kind and did not kill all of us. But after all, I lost my backer. Because of the past, my colleagues also excluded me. Once something big happened. The library I was guarding accidentally caught fire, and I was pushed out to take the blame. Fortunately, my teacher still remembered our old friendship and pleaded for me, otherwise I would not have been able to save my life.
After moving around for a while, I came to Jiangnan. Now I have opened a private school in this village, teaching children to read and write, and I am living a good life."
Although he said that, Fu Zhiyu looked at him and thought that he was only a few years older than Fu Zhiyu in terms of age. But at first sight, she subconsciously mistook him for a middle-aged man, which showed that he had lived a turbulent life.
Zhang Lin came a little closer to Fu Zhiyu and asked, "This place is remote and there are not many villagers. Why did King Zhao come here...?"
After all, he was not familiar with this person, and he was not an ordinary citizen. Fu Zhiyu could not judge his character based on the first meeting, nor did he explain his purpose to him at the first time.
"King Zhao is a noble man, and we can tell at a glance that he is different from ordinary people. The people here are wary of strangers, let alone someone like you. They probably don't dare to say anything, and they don't even dare to talk to you." Zhang Lin added, "If you have any instructions, just tell me."
Fu Zhiyu was still a little hesitant. He thought for a while and asked, "Can I go in and take a look?"
"nature."
From the outside, Zhang Lin's house looked no different from that of ordinary people. There were chickens and ducks in the front yard and farm tools inside the house. But it was different once you entered the house. It still looked a bit like a scholar's.
Although it was very simple, there were many books on the small shelf beside the bed, neatly arranged, and it looked like the owner took great care of them. The room was small, but there was a desk in the corner, with pen, ink, paper and inkstone all ready, and it looked like he was often writing.
But apart from these, the rest of the house could be considered bare. Fu Zhiyu also took a look at the stove. The rice jar was half full, but there was little meat. There was only a little salt for seasoning on the stove. Fu Zhiyu looked around but didn't see any oil.
Zhang Lin saw his movements and probably guessed why Fu Zhiyu came here. He was a former official and had seen people go on incognito visits before.
He also took the initiative to explain: "The remaining money is used to buy paper, pens and books. I don't care about food, so I just keep things simple. In fact, I don't have a hard life. I'm already considered good in the village."
After learning about it, Fu Zhiyu realized that Zhang Lin's private school did not charge any tuition. Most of the villagers here did not have any spare money, let alone provide education for their children. The rice in the rice jar was the payment for teaching the children, and it was given voluntarily by the villagers.
As for the money for daily living, Zhang Lin earned it himself. He had good handwriting, so he copied books for rich families. He earned more than ordinary farmers. Ordinary people could not afford to buy the books in his cabinet.
"This village is called Heshun Village. Farming has been the way of life for generations. It is a very common village in the Jiangnan area," Zhang Lin said. "They rely on the weather for their livelihood and can hardly save much money throughout the year. Before I came here, the children here could not even touch books. As time went on, they were buried deep in the fields and could not read. It is really difficult for a poor family to have a son, and this can only continue from generation to generation. If King Zhao is interested, I am willing to take you to have a look."
Fu Zhiyu finally nodded.
What Zhang Lin said before was not false. When he went to find the villagers himself, they didn't dare to talk to him at all. They just wanted to stay as far away from him as possible. They looked at him as if he was from another world.
Although the clothes that Butler Zhou found were indeed ordinary clothes, they were also new clothes and neatly arranged. Farmers usually had to work and were sweaty all over, so they would wear clothes as much as they could, not as neat as his. Besides, Fu Zhiyu's face and figure were too different from those of ordinary people when he wore cloth clothes.
But the villagers respected Zhang Lin very much, calling him "Master" and "Sir" all the time. Here, a person who has been educated and can read is really precious. What's more, he teaches children to read almost for free, so the villagers almost worship him like a god.
Zhang Lin's daily life was very simple. He copied books to earn money in the morning and taught classes in the school in the afternoon. If the weather was really bad, he would take a day off. Fu Zhiyu also went to the school with him in the afternoon to take a look.
It is called a school, but in fact it is a vacant space in the temple worshipped in the village. There are no extra houses in the village. There are a few tables, chairs and benches inside, but each one is polished to a shine. The children study under the gaze of the statues in the temple. They not only learn to recognize words and poems, but Zhang Lin also teaches practical arithmetic and even practical classes, teaching the children how to use an abacus.
Fu Zhiyu looked at these and commented: "You know a lot."
"Not everyone is suited to study, but with these skills, being an accountant in the future is better than digging for food in the fields," Zhang Lin said, "This is all I can do. I just didn't expect you to come. King Zhao can do more than I can."
Fu Zhiyu didn't know what to say.
He looked at the man's hopeful eyes and felt that he would eventually take the step he had planned.
Heshun Village was already a pretty good village. After all, it was good enough for a person like Zhang Lin to end up here. Fu Zhiyu followed his directions and went to several other villages that were poorer than Heshun Village, some of which were far away from Luanzhou. It took him some time to get a basic understanding.
"There are huge differences between different places in Jiangnan," he told Yuan Jiangxing after he came back. "Although change cannot be achieved overnight, I should start with it."
Fu Zhiyu became cautious about where to start.
He knew a lot of things, including those he saw in the main god space, but after all, he had not actually put them into practice. For now, it was still just talk.
He was actually a little restrained, and after returning from various villages, Fu Zhiyu had nightmares for a long time.
It was the feeling of powerlessness he had in his previous life when he heard the officials below reporting to him about the situation of the disaster victims that kept reappearing in his mind. That scene always reminded him that he had been a failed ruler.
Today he woke up from his dream in the middle of the night again, covered in sweat.
He couldn't fall asleep for a while, so he got up and poured himself a glass of water.
The nightmare has always existed. Fu Zhiyu always hypnotized himself that it was in the past and that as long as he didn't touch it, everything would be fine. But that was not the case.
To truly make the nightmare pass, you need something new to cover it.
Fu Zhiyu took a breath, and after drinking a sip of water he calmed down a lot. At this time, he smelled a faint fragrance at the tip of his nose.
The source of the fragrance is the incense burner in the room. The housekeeper would usually light some calming incense. This smell is calming incense for sure, but it smells different from the previous ones. It seems to be stronger and the fragrance is also more elegant.
If Fu Zhiyu wasn't for his special and sensitive physique, no one else would be able to feel this subtle difference.
It was the middle of the night and he didn't want to wake up the others to do anything, so the next morning he took the ashes from the incense burner and showed them to Doctor Chen.
After taking a closer look, Doctor Chen said, “This is the incense for calming the spirit, but it’s a little different from the one you have in your house.
Although the incense in your house is the most expensive on the market, there are actually better ones, but the quantity is very small, and the price is not in demand. Only the palace has it. And even in the palace, there may only be two boxes. It is very precious, and it is said to have a very good effect in calming the mind. Haven't you been sleeping well recently? It would be nice to light this."
Fu Zhiyu pressed his brow. Doctor Chen didn't understand the situation and thought that this was sent by the Yuan family. Moreover, it had no harm but only benefits. He didn't say anything more about it. Instead, he talked to Fu Zhiyu about the Deng family, which was considered an explanation for the previous events.
"Deng Qian has woken up, but it's not suitable for him to do anything big right now. He is still recuperating," said Doctor Chen. "He is actually quite interesting. He doesn't bear any grudge against the Qian family for extorting money from him before, at least on the surface. After he woke up and understood everything, the first time he went out was to go to the Qian family to express his gratitude."