Red Mansions: My Book is Cool

As expected, Li Jingxing made a special trip to visit Song Daru.Hearing Li Jingxing's introduction, especially after relaying Lin Mingan's words tactfully, Song Daru, who had also heard of Lin Qing's reputation, readily agreed to take both father and son of the Lin family under his sect.After Lin Mingan entered the academy, he could guide him day and night.Lin Qing still has official duties, so he can make appointments and come to ask for advice on a regular basis.Anyway, the book boy of the Lin family went to the academy once every three days. If Lin Qing had any doubts, he would write them on paper and give them to him to answer them; by the way, he took Lin Mingan's reading notes and the materials he had compiled.In this way, if you study by yourself, you can barely keep up.

Song Daru is very optimistic about Lin Ming'an, thinking that his foundation is solid, his thinking is broad and innovative, especially in the part of strategy and theory, which are his strengths.According to the news from the capital, the new emperor is a man of hard work. When he was a prince, he kept a secret. In fact, he was looking forward to eradicating evils and introducing new ideas to create a new atmosphere.A young talent like An Ge'er who can put forward practical measures without being exaggerated will fall into the eyes of the emperor. Qiu Gui is just a small step in his progress, and his future will be limitless in the future.The most urgent task is to polish the scriptures and format poems for him in this year or so.As for Lin Qing, he has a pretty good background, he has practical experience, and even if he studies hard, Qiu Gui may be able to gain something.However, he has stopped here, and he may be hopeless in the Jinshi examination.Song Daru told Li Jingxing these words bluntly.

Li Jingxing nodded in agreement.Like Song Daru, he originally only pinned his hopes on Lin Mingan.If it wasn't for Lin Mingan's insistence, he would not have thought of letting Lin Qing take the exam, nor would Lin Qing herself.But he knew very well that An Ge'er had a rift in his heart, and he must have his own plans.This is only after Lin Qing is admitted to Juren, he will reconcile it!But he was sure that An Ge'er's plan would never be harmful to Lin Qing, so that's fine.He was thinking of another matter to deal with.

Thus, Lin Qing and Lin Ming'an, father and son, began their life of "college entrance examination" in dire straits, and there was no need to elaborate on the difficulties and hardships involved.When the weather was getting hotter, Lin Mingan had someone set up an examination room in the back garden, everything was in the style of the examination room of the Gong Yuan.The father and son chose a day, and brought all kinds of things that candidates could bring to the tribute courtyard: food, candles, clothes, etc., put them in a test basket, and entered the test room.The exam questions were selected from the last time. The servants in the exam room are all served by family members in the mansion. The tables and nets in the exam room are the same as those in the real Gongyuan.

As soon as they entered the examination room, they were separated from the inside and outside, and they lived and boarded inside. The ink was ground by themselves, the water was pumped by themselves, and even the clean buckets were poured out by themselves.Both Chen and Yi'an were not allowed to come to the back garden, and the 'yamen servants' kept their expressions on their faces and refused to talk to them.Lin Qing nestled in the small examination room sweating and scribbling. Unknowingly, she seemed to forget the panic and just concentrate on the exam.

Nine days later, the father and son left the examination room exhausted, haggard, dirty and smelly.The smell forced Li Junshan, who came to visit, to dare not go forward, his face changed, and his tongue clicked in his heart, this little cousin is really a ruthless person!I will never be able to catch up, nine days, no exams, just lock him up in such an environment for nine days, he will go crazy!In this life, he will still work hard to be admitted as a scholar, have an explanation to his grandfather, and then hug his little cousin's thigh tightly, so that he can get some light!

When he went back and told Li Jingxing what he had seen and heard, Li Jingxing was also filled with emotion.Li Jingxing personally showed their answers to Song Daru for review, and Song Daru looked at them carefully, then nodded and remained silent.Li Jingxing smiled happily and then sighed slightly.

When it came to the official autumn boudoir exam, the father and son entered the exam room under the attention of everyone, and Li Jingxing didn't need Lin Qing to worry about the paperwork as soon as they went through the preparations.

20 days later, the Qiugui Guibang was published, and the Lin family father and son became the focus again.Both Lin Qing and Lin Mingan were on the list, which became a good story.Although Lin Qing was also selected, his ranking was not high. Among the eighty candidates on the list, he was ranked No. 70 and six.However, this was a surprise for him.Lin Qing was satisfied, and said that her wish was fulfilled, and she knew herself, so she would not take the exam any further.

Everyone's focus was on Lin Mingan.He passed the No.5 exam. Although he was not the first name Jieyuan, he was also the top of the list.The point is, how old is he, and he is still dissatisfied. He is the youngest among all people, and he has a bright future.Next year he will be able to go to Beijing to take the Jinshi examination, and he has great hopes of winning!Even if you don’t pass the exam, it doesn’t matter if you take the exam three years later.Even if you pass the exam three or four times, and you reach the age of 30, you are still very young.Let's take ten thousand steps back, let's not pass the exam in the future, he is already a juren, he is so good-looking, smart and capable, and can be an official; the only son in the family, the Lin family's family business will be his in the future , that is also excellent.

For a while, the officials and eunuchs with unmarried daughters in Xuzhou were a little bit ready to move, and came to congratulate them in various ways, and made friends with the Chen family in various ways.When talking to them, Mrs. Chen understood what they were thinking, and she was not willing to agree to it. She only said that Brother An would prepare for next year's spring boudoir, and they were too busy worrying about it.An Ge'er vowed not to be admitted to Jinshi, so he didn't think about anything else.Politely declined all inquiries.

Mrs. Chen thought in her heart, An Ge'er is so outstanding and such a good son, she must find him a wife who is perfect and good in everything.When Ange goes further, he has many choices, how can he only focus on Syria?

On the second day after the announcement of the rankings, Li Jingxing invited Lin Qing and Lin Mingan to the mansion, and after stepping away from the screen, his expression immediately became serious.

"Qingxi, your father and son's participation in the autumn boudoir is due to the emperor's virtuous policy. You know that. But according to the law, Xuzhou has to issue a document and move out of your household registration. You are a scholar, and you must Going through Gusu's study and administration is more complicated than ordinary people."

"Yes, thank you uncle!" Lin Qing said gratefully.

Li Jingxing waved his hand: "I came to you and Brother An not to hear your thanks!"

He suddenly changed the subject: "Qingxi, have you heard about the Lin family all these years?"

Lin Qing's whole body was shocked, and he subconsciously glanced in Lin Ming'an's direction: "No, why did uncle mention him today?"

"Qingxi," Li Jingxing sighed: "I understand your concerns, but he has paid attention to you. Brother An will go to Beijing to catch the exam in the future, so there is no way to hide it, unless you don't want to be famous, just shrink Be an ordinary citizen in Syria."

"Didn't he never look for us before, why did he suddenly think of it now?" Lin Qing gritted his teeth.

"At this time, at that time! The year you came to Xuzhou, his first wife gave birth to a daughter, and there was no child after that. Two years later, the concubine's room gave birth to a son. But the two children are not healthy. Kang Jian, his son fell ill when he was three years old. A few years ago, the old sage ordered him to be the inspector of salt in Yangzhou. In terms of rank, he was only on the same level as me, but that position is in charge of the world's salt industry. How powerful is it? Big is the number one fat vacancy in the world! It is only the old sage's confidant who can't get it, so it's no wonder that his father-in-law was the old sage's companion during his lifetime? He was busy with business all day long, and after his wife died of illness, there was no one to take care of him in the backyard, so Send the daughter to the capital and entrust his mother-in-law to raise her. The eldest daughter who lost her mother is a 'five not married', and his mother-in-law is the wife of the Duke of the state, and she was raised under her knees by order of the first rank, so she has a good reputation."

"Someone from my wife's family in Gusu works in the yamen of Yingtian Mansion. Rumor has it that the steward of his mansion came to check the news and found out about you and An Geer's relocation. I think, given his current situation , sooner or later, he will come to your door. If that's the case, why don't you tell Angle yourself first." Li Jingxing persuaded earnestly.

Lin Qing thought about it, hesitated for a long time, then gritted his teeth and called Lin Mingan to himself, looked at Brother An's quiet and clear eyes, and said with a trembling heart: "Brother An, you, you know, you know, I And your mother is not your biological parents" I couldn't go on anymore, covering my face with my hands, feeling sore in my heart.

On the shoulder, An Ge'er patted him lightly twice, it was An Ge'er comforting himself.Next to my ear, An Ge'er's calm voice came: "I know this a long time ago."

"What?" Both Lin Qing and Li Jingxing exclaimed, staring at Lin Mingan with their mouths gaping.

"How do you know, your mother told you?" Lin Qing stammered and asked.No, Mrs. Chen refused to reveal this secret to death. Could it be that Madam Du slipped her mouth?

"I knew it when I was in Gusu." Lin Mingan explained lightly: "That day, Zhao Yulan came to see Auntie, and I happened to go to Auntie's place early, and I heard it clearly. Look at my eyes and expression, and after a little scrutiny, I can't guess it? I know that I am not born to my father and mother, but what does that matter? There are a few biological parents and children who have a deeper relationship than us, and they are happy of?"

"That's right!" Li Jingxing reassuredly said, ""Book of the Later Han Dynasty" says: People don't necessarily have to beget their own children, but they can't be raised with love! Your father is kind and your son is filial, life should be without regrets, so don't worry about it?"

"Uncle and grandpa are right." Lin Mingan smiled and said, "Father, do you know the reason why I insist on you taking the exam?"

He smiled slightly: "I kind of feel that Dad has always had a pimple in his heart, and he is worried about his fame as a scholar. Therefore, using the saying that father and son are on the list together, tempted Dad to fight again. Regardless of success or failure, I can feel at ease. In this way, I have the confidence to face that person. More importantly, I want to give my father and uncle a big gift. If my father is just a scholar, this gift will not have the expected effect .”

"The method of drying salt." Lin Ming'an emphasized his voice.

The current salt industry is controlled by the imperial court, and the profits are very high. The salt merchants are the richest in the world, and ordinary people need a lot of money to eat salt.Poor people eat salt sparingly, and they don't want to put too much in cooking. The dishes have a little salty taste, so that people don't feel weak.There are 6 types of salt, including sea salt, well salt, and pool salt. Among them, the output of sea salt is the highest among all salts, and Changlu, Shandong, and Fujian are the main sea salt sites.

Now sea salt is mainly made by frying salt, which is the traditional method of "cooking the sea into salt". This is the most fundamental reason.

What Lin Mingan is going to offer now is the method of sun-drying salt: choose a large flat seaside tidal flat in an area with a mild climate and sufficient sunlight to build a salt field.Evaporation ponds and crystallization ponds are dug out of salt pans.First introduce seawater into the evaporation pool, and when the water is evaporated to a certain extent by the sun, it is then poured into the crystallization pool and continued to be exposed to the sun, the seawater will become a saturated solution of table salt, and the table salt will gradually be precipitated after being exposed to the sun.This is coarse salt, and after further filtering, you get very pure fine salt.The table salt produced by this method is not only of better quality, but also greatly reduces the cost.In this way, the people can eat cheap salt, so they can naturally consume more, and the country's taxes can also be increased.

If this method is really useful, then the court will naturally reward those who offer it, Li Jingxing gradually understood Lin Mingan's intention.

Lin Ming'an smiled slightly, and said slowly: "Although my father is a small official, he is sincere in serving the court. After years of thinking, he came up with this method. As a magistrate and senior official, my uncle and grandpa have a good eye for people, and he strongly supported him. If you are successful, you dare not hide your secrets and report it to the court. The current emperor likes capable people, and he has just succeeded to the throne. He is about to win people's hearts. Naturally, he will not hesitate to reward such a good example and buy bones with thousands of dollars. Next year will be the year of Jingchao. Granduncle's political achievements have gained weight, and at least he will be promoted to a higher level. Dad already has a good reputation in Syria, and the method of offering salt should be the first. If the uncle and grandpa can use his contacts to operate for him again, he hopes to obtain a title. It doesn't matter if he doesn't need to be high, and he can't be a title. In this way, Auntie can become a royal order, and Yi'an is also a lady of the official family. Father is an official, Having a title is different from being an official with your brother!"

After hearing this, Lin Qing was moved and her eyes were red.Li Jingxing looked at him and sighed, "You raised a good son!"

"I will immediately order someone to carry out this experiment. If it is effective, I will immediately report it to the court. Don't worry, uncle and grandpa will try their best to fight for your father, and will not disappoint your filial piety!" Now he understands Brother An's plan. Lin Qing is an ordinary person, if he offers this method, maybe the government will give some money as a reward and he will dismiss it.But he has already obtained the fame of Juren, that is, he is a member of the scholastic circle, and with his own efforts, the result is completely different. "

"I want to ask, Brother An, how did you come up with these methods? There is also the previous silk quilt. This is not an article, and you can come up with a flash of inspiration! You have to let me You know it well." Li Jingxing asked meaningfully.He felt that Brother An probably knew about this method a long time ago, and he just waited for this opportunity to come up with it.

"Grandpa, I have been fond of these techniques of investigating things since I was a child. I have read a lot of idle books, and I have been secretly tinkering with these things myself. Qinghe Zhenren, the host of Gusu Xuanmiao Temple, is still my old friend. Taoism is very good at this kind of thing. It's not surprising that high priests are often famous doctors and masters of alchemy!" Lin Ming'an explained with a smile.As for whether Li Jingxing believes it or not, a smart person will see through it and not say it!

Lin Qing suddenly remembered the dream that Brother An talked about when he was young, coughed lightly, echoed Lin Mingan's words, and rounded up the problem.

"One more thing," Lin Ming'an said to Li Jingxing, "I think Cousin Shan is quite interested in running the family business, why don't we let the two of us cooperate to open a wine shop?"

"Winehouse?" Li Junshan, who was eavesdropping curiously from behind and was already petrified with shock, ran out when he heard this, ignoring Li Jingxing's stare and asked, "Brother An, since you said you want to set up a winery, how about that?" What's so unusual about the brewery"

"Now the wines in the world are not full-bodied enough, only stronger than rice wine, and the taste is not good. I think, if we can make a more pure, strong, full-bodied wine, then many people will like it."

"I have experimented with a method that can refine wine to make it purer and stronger. If it is a distillery, I propose to put it in Maotai Town in the northwest of Guizhou, on the north side of the western section of Loushan Mountain, south of Sichuan, and by the Chishui River. The forest here is lush, the water quality is special, and the brewed wine is excellent. We can buy a winery, use the original wine to refine it, and make a unique wine. You choose a skilled winemaker, and I will use this method Pass it on to them, and try it in Xuzhou first. If it is useful, it will not be too late to make it work. However, the brewer must choose a trustworthy one, and he must sign a contract and hold it in his hand."

Li Junshan has always been convinced of An Geer, and thought for a while: "Then I will try first. If the winery is really established, I will pay for the people, and you will pay for the technology. If you make money, we will share it."

"I'll also contribute a share of the capital," Lin Mingan suggested, "Not much, only 1 taels of silver."

"Brother An, where did you get the money?" Lin Qing asked in amazement.Ange'er's monthly silver is two taels a month, which is not a small amount in Syria. Chen and himself will make up one or two taels in private, but no matter what, he can't save 1 taels of silver?

"When I was in Gusu, I asked for compensation and cover-up money from that person. From a mysterious perspective, Xiaoqing's leg was broken. I figured it must be that wife's handwriting. Later, his housekeeper When I came to Gusu to see my parents, I stopped him and asked him to pay 2 taels of silver in compensation. I can’t be wronged in vain, and Xiaoqing can’t have her leg broken in vain. I just want to say a few words and end it. There is nothing like this in the world. It's cheap! If I don't give it to him, I will try to send his wife's information to his master's opponent. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Qinghe Zhenren can also testify. I guess, he dare not ruin his reputation and affect his official career. "

"Later, his housekeeper sent a bank note. For 2 taels, I gave Qinghe Zhenren 1000 taels for Xiaoqing's medical expenses; there was another 1000 taels, please send it to Zhao Yulan, she is also a hard-working person ;I keep the rest of the bank notes, but I dare not let my parents know. I have been waiting, this silver will come in handy. There are still 8000 taels, and I will give it to my mother when I go back. Tell her to rest assured, I will always It's our family's An Geer, and this will never change!"

"" Everyone was tongue-tied, unable to speak, and felt dizzy.Back then, how old was An Geer, who was barely seven years old, and he was able to handle such a big event, so An Geer was not worse than him, right?

"That person, is the person we met outside the Lin family's ancestral hall back then, the patriarch specially accompanied him!" Lin Mingan asked indifferently: "Father was polite and unfamiliar to him, and his attitude was abnormal, but at that time I don't care."

"It's him!" Seeing Lin Mingan's indifferent attitude, Lin Qing felt at ease, and introduced himself: "He is my elder brother Lin Hai, whose character is Ru Hai, and is now the inspector of salt in Yangzhou. Talent. It’s just that his father died early, and later Rong Guogong Jia Daishan married his own daughter Jia Min as his wife. He helped him when he first entered the official position. Therefore, he was very tolerant of Jia’s family.”

Lin Mingan was stunned. Lin Ruhai, Jia Min, Jia Daishan, why are these names so familiar?Tour salt censor?Yangzhou?

His mind was in a mess, he swallowed, and tried to look calm: "Uncle and grandpa said she has a daughter, what's her name?"

"It seems to be called..." Li Jingxing thought for a while, "By the way, the name is Daiyu."

"Daiyu, Lin Daiyu?"

"Lin Daiyu!"

Lin Ming'an was as shocked as if the Supreme Treasure had accidentally returned to 500 years ago.After more than ten years, now, he finally knows what world he came to!

Full of absurd words, tears of bitterness!It is really a good show that has been passed down through the ages!But he just wanted to watch quietly in the dimly lit place!