Aoyama Chronicle

After the announcement of the rankings in the palace examination, apart from the parade of champions that day, the next big event was the Luming Banquet the next day, which was hosted by the current emperor himself.

Zhong Yiwen was ready to go to the Luming Banquet. He was the champion and the most rumored person in the capital recently, so it was impossible to keep a low profile.However, Zhong Yiwen didn't feel that there was anything to worry about. He really had nothing to be afraid of.What's more, he himself has offended King Anle, the big celebrity in front of the Holy One, and the other big celebrity, Lu Bonian, Lord Lu, doesn't have a good impression of him. Zhong Yiwen really thinks that he can't get any worse than this!

In fact, what Zhong Yiwen doesn't know is that he actually offended some people without knowing it, including the current crown prince, and even Lord Hong, the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, was angry with Zhong Yiwen. These are all Zhong Yiwen is still kept in the dark .

In November, the temperature in Kyoto has dropped to about zero degrees. For Zhong Yiwen, who grew up in a warm place like Yangzhou, he was really not used to such a cold weather.It's okay at home, anyway, Zhong's house started to raise charcoal fire early.But when he went outside, Zhong Yiwen felt that the chill was creeping down his bones. Even though he was wearing winter clothes and a thick black cloak, his whole body was slowly getting colder and colder.It was Ah Mo who noticed it with sharp eyes, and immediately stuffed a small hand stove in Zhong Yiwen's hand.

When Zhong Yiwen arrived at the Lu Ming Banquet, what everyone saw was Zhong Yiwen, who was wrapped up tightly and airtight. He had never seen someone dressed like this now, and many people came to make fun of Zhong Yiwen.When Zhong Yiwen finally felt a little warmer and took off his cloak, everyone saw that he was holding a small hand stove in his hand, and after he was seated, he didn't put down the hand stove in his hand, and even more people were surprised.

"Brother Zhong, have you already started using the hand stove?" A Jinshi who looked to be in his 40s asked in surprise.

Zhong Yiwen is not afraid of being known to be afraid of the cold, and as the weather gets colder and colder, he is afraid that he will exaggerate even more, so he replied naturally: "Yes. I have always lived in Yangzhou in the south, and when I arrived in Kyoto, suddenly In the meantime, I really can't adapt to the weather here, so I can only use it first."

A Jinshi from Jingzhou also laughed: "That's true, even when I go out today, I feel that Kyoto is much colder than my home in the south."

"The temperature this year is lower than in previous years, so the charcoal in Kyoto will be much more expensive?" Another person said casually.

"No matter how expensive it is, the wealthy families in the capital can still use it. Like brother Zhong's family, don't they start using charcoal fire now?" The man spoke in a sour tone.

Zhong Yiwen smiled slightly: "There is always a time when things are expensive or cheap, and this thing is the same, there are always two sides. Xiongtai thinks that the weather this year will be higher than the price of cold charcoal in previous years, and ordinary people may be struggling at home, but Xiongtai has no I thought about the people who worked so hard to burn charcoal, maybe they can earn some more money this year. We can’t pay attention to the victims, but also see the benefits, don’t we?”

Zhong Yiwen's words made the person before him speechless. If he continued to speak, people might think that his vision is narrow.

However, there are still people with clearer thinking, who were not taken in by Zhong Yiwen: "Zhuangyuanlang's words are right. We can't ignore the benefit, but now those who can't afford charcoal because of the high price of charcoal need to pay more attention to it." ? At this time, don’t they need to help them even more?”

Zhong Yiwen glanced at the man, 25 looked very decent, a bit like a gentleman from a wealthy family.A Jinshi who was close sneaked over and whispered in Zhong Yiwen's ear: "This man is Jizhou Han Youguang, Jinke Jinshi No. No. 4 pick, but he didn’t even get into the first class, so he is not convinced by the first three.”

"Brother Han is right. It is easy to add icing on the cake, but difficult to send charcoal in the snow. Those who benefit from it are just icing on the cake no matter how much they pay attention, but those who can't burn charcoal are the ones who are really waiting for us to send charcoal in the snow." Someone echoed Han's relevant words.

Some people also objected: "Sending charcoal in the snow is easy to say, but it is difficult to do. I have only heard that there are rich and noble families who specialize in giving porridge outside in winter, but I have never heard that there are people who specially deliver charcoal to others. "

"Of course, because charcoal is not a necessity, do people who can use charcoal still need to wait for you to give porridge? The real poor people can't even solve their food and clothing. Brother Han just asked us to pay attention to those who can't afford charcoal this year People, but in fact, what needs more attention is those people who can't afford charcoal every year." Someone rushed to say.

Zhong Yiwen couldn't figure out how his small hand stove would cause such a big topic.At this time, Wu Yuanheng quietly sat beside Zhong Yiwen.Before the Lu Ming Banquet, it was a time for the new scholars to communicate with each other and get acquainted with each other. Generally, they would not care much about their positions.However, everyone is generally not too far away from their position.Wu Yuanheng ranked in the top [-] this time, and the position he ranked down was actually quite close to Zhong Yiwen, which made it easier for him to come over.

"Ah Wen, what's the matter? Why are you surrounded by you, and everyone gets angry like eating chili?"

Zhong Yiwen said that he is also very innocent: "The war of words caused by a hand stove. It also shows that everyone is very interested in the affairs of the Ministry of Finance."

"Oh?" Wu Yuanheng was skeptical, he and Wu Yuanan came here together, both of them came later than Zhong Yiwen, so Wu Yuanheng didn't know what the reason was.

Just as Zhong Yiwen and Wu Yuanheng were muttering to each other, they were suddenly called out: "Zhuangyuan Lang, do you think this should be a charcoal?"

This sentence is a bit inexplicable, isn't it?What's more, he didn't even notice what they were talking about just now.Zhong Yiwen just showed a smiling face and replied: "Actually, this should not be the case, there can't be only one standard to look at."

"Zhuangyuanlang, don't you think it shouldn't be?" Han Youguang suddenly stood up, "Zhuangyuanlang, naturally you don't have to worry about the price of charcoal in your family, but there are many people in Kyoto because they don't use charcoal. Charcoal, frostbite, sickness and death. Everyone hears about it every year, why don't you think it needs attention?"

The smile on Zhong Yiwen's face paused, he didn't expect that Han Youguang would target him like this, and he felt a little funny in his heart: "Brother, your family must be pretty good, right? Didn't you know how those people who died of frostbite were treated?" What's the matter?"

"What do you mean?" Han Youguang was a little puzzled.

"What I mean is that if you have money to send charcoal, it's better to use the money to help others repair their houses. It's useless to use charcoal in a house that leaks wind, rain, snow and snow!" Zhong Yiwen answered Han Youguang's question concisely. .

Han Youguang was taken aback for a moment, obviously understanding the obvious problem in what he said just now.He blamed the lack of charcoal for heating those who died of frostbite, but Zhong Yiwen told him that the real reason was that there was no shelter from the wind and rain.

"Actually, the question we discussed at the beginning should not be because the weather this year is colder than previous years, which may cause the price of charcoal to rise?" Zhong Yiwen took the initiative to return to the question, "Actually, I think this may also be an opportunity."

"Oh? What kind of opportunity?" A man in his 50s suddenly interjected.

Zhong Yiwen glanced at that person, but he didn't know him. It seems that there is no Jinshi this year who is so old, but he doesn't mind, and continued: "This opportunity is to use the name to rectify the merchants, and the state will regulate it. This business market, so as to achieve market stability."

The man's interest became even higher, and he couldn't wait to ask: "What's the explanation for this? All along, merchants are free to buy and sell business opportunities. As long as they don't violate the laws of the Yan Kingdom, it is difficult for even the Holy One to intervene in this matter." of."

"This is actually a misunderstanding." Zhong Yiwen explained, "Whoever says that they are innocent if they haven't broken the law, why do everyone look down on businessmen? If they are not wrong, will everyone be so disgusted? This blind spot is In fact, our country of Yan doesn’t have a real law to regulate merchants. In all honesty, do you think that the laws of the country of Yan really apply to merchants?”

Let me give you an example. A merchant in Kyoto bought a batch of goods from a merchant in Jizhou, but the merchant in Kyoto was busy, so he asked the merchant in Jizhou to ship them to Kyoto, and the time was set within one month.The Jizhou businessman did not neglect, and sent the goods to Kyoto within half a month, but when he went to Kyoto, he found that the goods were in short supply in Kyoto, and other merchants in Kyoto offered his goods at twice the price. Sold immediately.However, he was also smart, and directly asked someone to send another batch of goods from Jizhou to the merchants in Kyoto who had originally ordered the goods.The original merchants in Kyoto saw that there is not much shortage of this thing in Kyoto now, so they didn't want it, and asked the merchants in Jizhou to give him the deposit.How could the Jizhou businessman be willing, just saying that the things have been delivered within the stipulated month, he doesn't care, he wants the final payment.Two people quarreled with the government, if you receive this case, how will you judge it? "

Everyone was silent for a while, as if they were thinking about this question.

"This Jizhou businessman must have made a mistake. He was directly sentenced to refund the money to the merchant in Kyoto, and the things were taken back by himself."

Those who said this could tell at a glance that they had never understood the laws of Yan.According to the current laws of the country of Yan, the Jizhou merchants were not at fault. On the contrary, because the Jingdu merchants violated the agreement, they not only had to accept the goods and pay obediently, but even compensated the Jizhou merchants a lot of money.

The 50-year-old man who just curiously asked the question is now frowning and distressed. This is something that he knows is right or wrong, but according to the laws of Yan State, there is no basis for sentencing at all.