“Can we accuse Fang Yun of being profit-driven?”
"Idiot! The Li Palace just doesn't know how to guide the people. Now Fang Yun is letting the old man and his family live a rich and happy life. This is 'Respect the old and the young as well as the old of others'. Liu Yu's incident is equivalent to telling the entire human race that it's okay to suffer a little when you are young. As long as you devote yourself to the country and the human race, you will surely let your descendants live a rich life in the future! The Li Palace will definitely learn this method to inspire young scholars of the human race to forge ahead. You still dare to accuse Fang Yun of pursuing profit? Who gave you the courage?"
"Then... should we leak it out in advance and let other candidates take the credit?"
"Get lost! Idiot! You've been my stupid teammate once, do you want to be my stupid teammate a second time? This is a palace examination with three semi-saints as examiners. Fang Yun has said this in public, and the three saints have remembered it. You want me to leak it to other candidates taking the palace examination? Have I dug up your ancestral graves or destroyed your ancestral hall? Do you want to harm me like this?"
Shen Ming looked at the words on the letter, and Ji Zhibai's distorted expression seemed to appear in front of him. He felt ashamed and angry, but he did not reflect on his own short-sightedness. Instead, he vented all his resentment on Fang Yun.
"Although I can't open the list of literary scholars, I knew that I was already notorious. My teammate Shen Zhubu, who was as stupid as a pig, had already spread all over the world. Now he has caused me to be scolded by Master Ji. It's all your fault! Fang Yun, just wait! The simple cases you are trying now are not important, but some of them hide many traps. Once they break out, your ratings in the three departments of people's livelihood, criminal justice, and civil service will inevitably decline. If you try cases at the current pace, you will definitely step on those traps around the Medical Literature Conference in March! Moreover, the vicious plan set by Master Ji will also break out at that time! Once it causes dissatisfaction among the doctors, the Medical Literature Conference will surely become a place where your literary reputation will be completely ruined! See you in March!"
Shen Ming figured out the whole thing, and was very happy. He turned his head and looked in the direction of the county government hall. A vicious smile appeared on his face.
In the evening, the stubborn old man Liu Yu hummed a little tune and walked slowly home.
Since Gongdian officially designated the Ning'an County workshop as a pilot workshop today, the people in the workshop are still kept under seal, but they can now go home.
Passing by a tavern on the street, Liu Yu shouted, "Give me two jars of old yellow wine, and three kinds of meat dishes!"
The tavern owner smiled and said, "Oh, Old Liu is back? We heard that you've been doing pretty well these days, and even met some great scholars."
"Haha... No, no, I just had a few words with the great scholar in Xiangli. It's nothing." Liu Yu laughed, revealing a mouthful of broken teeth. He spoke modestly, but a sense of pride was overflowing on his face.
"congratulations!"
Neighbors congratulated him one after another.
However, an old man suddenly said in a sinister voice: "Old Liu, you have been a craftsman in the workshop for so many years. You have gained fame, but what benefits have you gained? The reputation of a great scholar is powerful. It can allow your grandson to enter a good academy. Or can it allow your granddaughter to get a betrothal gift and marry in style?"
The pub suddenly became quiet.
Everyone knows that Liu Yu has a reputation but no status or real power. This has been the case for decades. Except for Liu Yu's apprentices, not many people take Liu Yu seriously.
Just a good person, this is the image of Liu Yu in the eyes of his neighbors.
"Lao Miao, forget it. Why bring up such things on a happy day?"
"He and I have been friends for forty years. It was a piece of cake for him to ask me to let my son work in the workshop. But he refused to agree!"
"Just say that. Old Liu regretted it afterwards. Besides, your son has always been hanging out with bad friends. Who knows what will happen when he goes to the workshop..."
"Humph!" Old Man Miao interrupted the man with a cold snort, "An honest man? A skilled craftsman? I think he is just a fool who doesn't understand the ways of the world. There is no room for such a person in this world!"
The smile on Liu Yu's face disappeared. He paid for the wine and food and left in a hurry.
The Liu family lives in the old city area. Although their house has been repaired many times, it has never been rebuilt and is out of tune with most of their neighbors' houses. It looks extremely dilapidated.
The Liu family mansion cost him most of his life savings. It was originally a separate house with a courtyard, but his sons could not afford to buy a house, so he had to build two houses in the yard for his children and grandchildren to live in.
When they reached the door, Liu Yu forced a smile and said loudly, "Nannan, Shiyuan, Xiaoxiao, look who's back!"
"Grandpa!" Children's cheers were heard from the Liu family's courtyard, and six children ranging from seven or eight years old to twelve or thirteen years old rushed out.
The children gathered around the stubborn old man and laughed happily. Although their eyes drifted towards the oil paper bag and their noses kept sniffing, they were very sensible and did not mention the meat, because they knew that there was very little meat and it was usually for the adults. The excess was only given to the children. They could not make the adults unhappy because the adults had a hard time.
Liu Yu winked at his grandchildren, put down the wine, then opened a paper bag and whispered, "Come on, open your mouths, one piece each, and no one is allowed to tell anyone!" After that, Liu Yu put a piece of meat into each child's mouth.
The little boy named Liu Shiyuan whispered, "Chew slowly, hold it in your mouth for a while so that it can taste good. Don't eat it all in one gulp!"
Liu Yuchong smiled at his grandson, but he felt very upset in his heart.
Afterwards, everyone at home came out to greet him, asking about his well-being. When they learned that they would be paid five times the salary in the next few days, the whole family was very happy.
While her daughter-in-law was cooking, Madam Liu pulled Liu Yu aside and said, "We don't have much money at home. Shi Yuan has to pay a large sum of money to go to the academy, and Shi Ming will also go to a private school, which is another large expense. The price of grain has risen sharply recently, and the grain we stored last year is almost not enough. In April, we will have to eat porridge every day."
“Yeah, yeah…” Liu Yu nodded continuously.
At the end, Mrs. Liu saw that her husband kept nodding and said nothing, and she was furious. She said, "You always want a good reputation, but what's the point? Ah? Everyone knows that Rong Xiucai is a worthless person? He has a higher academic rank than you, but his mechanical skills are not as good as yours. He messed up the county workshop and made the county lose everything. You still looked down on him, but what happened later? He changed his ways, contacted the famous Rong family, and bought the workshop that he had ruined. Then, after a little renovation, it became prosperous immediately, and the money he made was like water! Look at his new house and carriage!"
"It's better not to make the kind of money that will destroy your family lineage!" Liu Yu said coldly.
"How can you be patient? Will Rong Xiucai be extinct? On the contrary, if our family doesn't make money, we will be extinct. Why not make the money we can?"
Liu Yu groaned and said, "No one can make that kind of money! Those workshops are buffets set up by officials for their families. They eat up the county's workshops bit by bit. Let alone eating meat, we can't even drink soup! We don't want to make money that goes against our conscience! I think County Magistrate Xiao Fang is different from the previous county magistrates. If nothing unexpected happens, my salary next month can double!"
"Double it? Even if you quadruple it, you still can't earn as much in a year as Rong Xiucai does in a month!" Mrs. Liu said. (To be continued...)