"Brother Xu, I hope you will not refuse this fifty taels of silver. I hope you can study hard for the exam and not let the daily necessities distract you. In fact, Ping An should have given more silver, but Ping An is responsible for organizing the military and leading the militia to fight against the Japanese invaders. It costs a lot of money and food, so I really have no money to spend. I hope you will not despise me."
After eating and drinking, Zhu Ping'an took out a fifty-liang silver note from his sleeve, handed it to Xu Wei with both hands, and said seriously.
"How could it be, how could it be..." Xu Wei had no intention of refusing at all. He immediately stretched out his greasy claws to take the silver note from Zhu Ping'an's hand, and his pair of small eyes narrowed into slits due to smiling.
Seeing Xu Wei taking the banknotes without any courtesy, Liu Dadao felt distressed. He knew that all the money on Zhu Ping'an was invested in military expenses, and the fifty taels of silver was the only emergency money left.
"Brother Xu, I would like to say a few more words before we part. I hope you won't mind." Zhu Ping'an bowed.
"As long as you don't want the fifty taels of silver back, it doesn't matter how much you say." Xu Wei stuffed the fifty taels of silver notes deep into his arms, then waved his hand and said with a fat face and a carefree smile.
"Ping'an is actually a fickle person." Zhu Ping'an said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"Haha, then you can talk as much as you want." Xu Wei grinned.
"Brother Xu may not like to hear this, but Ping An still wants to say it. I hope Brother Xu will pay attention..." Zhu Ping An bowed and reminded Xu Wei, "The most important thing in the imperial examination is the eight-part essay. The eight-part essay is to interpret the principles of the scriptures and speak for the saints. There must not be any views outside the teachings of the saints and the Four Books and Five Classics. Brother Xu's understanding of the Four Books and Five Classics is far beyond that of ordinary people, but in the imperial examination, you still need to restrain yourself and not contradict the saints' views or the saints' intentions."
All in all, in short, Zhu Ping'an just wanted to remind Xu Wei not to bring personal opinions into the imperial examination.
The fundamental reason why Xu Wei failed in the imperial examination was that his ideas were too advanced and contradicted many of the words of sages such as Confucius and Mencius.
Maybe he didn't notice it during the exam, or maybe he noticed it but didn't control his thoughts; or maybe he noticed it and controlled it but couldn't hide it between the lines. Whatever the reason, if you have something to hide in the imperial examination, no matter how good your writing is, you will get zero points.
Since Xu Wei was now fully focused on taking the imperial examination, Zhu Ping'an, as a friend, had the responsibility and obligation to remind Xu Wei to be careful and not make similar mistakes again.
"Haha, this is the most basic point of the eight-legged essay. Of course I know that." Xu Wei couldn't help laughing when he heard it, with an expression of an experienced person on his face. He thought what Zhu Ping'an was going to say, but he didn't expect it to be this.
"I hope Brother Xu will remember this." After Zhu Ping'an repeatedly reminded him, he said goodbye to Xu Wei and left.
"Okay, okay? Remember, remember."
Behind Zhu Ping'an? Xu Wei waved his hand perfunctorily, not taking Zhu Ping'an's words to heart at all.
Since you are taking the imperial examination? I know this.
How could I, Xu Wei, make such a simple mistake? What does the sage mean? I, Xu Wei, know it very well...
In fact, when Zhu Pingan came out of Xu Wei's house, he was already tipsy. After all, his alcohol tolerance was not very good. Although the alcohol content of rice wine was lower, after drinking five or six glasses of wine with Xu Wei, Zhu Pingan could not help but feel tipsy.
Walking on the street on the way back, it was already dusk and the sun had already set. Only the afterglow was in the western sky. The breeze was blowing, bringing a cool breeze, making Zhu Ping'an's slightly hot face feel much more comfortable.
"The Japanese pirates invaded Taizhou again, with boats stretching for several miles, attacking cities and towns, killing and kidnapping residents, and causing great suffering to the local people..."
"Yes, it's too tragic. I heard that a county town was captured by Japanese pirates and the county magistrate was killed."
At this moment, people were coming and going on the street, and suddenly the voices of passers-by talking on the roadside came into Zhu Ping'an's ears.
The Japanese pirates invaded Taizhou again and the county town was breached...
When Zhu Ping'an heard these key words, he immediately broke out in a cold sweat and all the drunkenness disappeared.
"Excuse me, bro. May I ask what the situation is like in Jingnan County?"
Zhu Ping'an was sweating coldly. He quickly caught up with the passerby and asked anxiously while apologizing.
Zhu Ping'an had just come from Jingnan to take up his post. Having served as the county magistrate in Jingnan for such a long time, he had extremely deep feelings for Jingnan, and also for the people of Jingnan. He could not help but care about them.
"Jingnan? I'm sorry, little brother. I don't know Jingnan's situation. I just heard it from others."
"have no idea."
Several passers-by shook their heads, not knowing what was happening in Jingnan.
"Which county town was it that those people just mentioned was breached?" Zhu Ping'an asked again.
"It seems to be Linhai, or Taiping. I don't remember clearly. We just heard it from hearsay. If you really want to know, I suggest you go to the teahouse in front and ask. That's where we heard it."
The pedestrian replied.
"Thank you, thank you." Zhu Ping'an bowed to thank them.
People are selfish to some extent. When Zhu Pingan heard that the county that was breached was Linhai County or Taiping County, he felt sorry for the two counties, but also felt a little relieved. It was not Jingnan. Fortunately, it was not Jingnan...
After thanking the passerby, Zhu Ping'an took Liu Mu and Liu Dadao to the teahouse indicated by the passerby - Yihuchun Teahouse.
Zhu Pingan entered the teahouse and found that there were still many people in the teahouse. In the middle of the stage was the storyteller, who was talking about the experience of Taizhou. Zhu Pingan borrowed ten coins from Liu Mu and ordered a pot of the cheapest tea. The three of them sat there and listened to the storyteller.
After listening for about a cup of tea, Zhu Ping'an had almost understood the situation of the Japanese invasion in Taizhou.
The Japanese pirates who invaded Taizhou this time were Chen Dong, a big boss under Wang Zhi. He lured and assembled nearly 10,000 Japanese pirates to invade eastern Zhejiang. They landed in Xiangshan and Zhoushan, Zhejiang. Taizhou was not their only destination. After landing, they divided their troops into four groups to invade Taizhou, Wenzhou, Ningbo and Shaoxing. This time, the Japanese pirates committed crimes by robbery, which was a quick robbery on the way. The attack area was very wide and had a great impact, but they did not focus on attacking the city. The attack was only a tentative attack. Linhai County was unlucky. Under the tentative attack of the Japanese pirates, the county town was captured and the county magistrate was killed.
Zhu Ping'an specifically asked the storyteller about the situation in Jingnan. The storyteller only knew that Jingnan was the county with the least casualties and damage in Taizhou, but he didn't know the specific casualties.
Although the specific casualties in Jingnan were unclear, Zhu Pingan was greatly relieved to hear that Jingnan was the county with the least damage. Zhou Tai did not let him down.