RPAGF Chapter 1045 The Happiness of Ordinary People
Chapter 1045 The Happiness of Ordinary People
However, after thinking it over, he quickly made up his mind: "If all else fails, I'll have to get rid of him. I see that he's all alone, seriously injured, and has no one with him. It will be easy to make a move."
Someone hesitated: "But he is, after all, a first-rank official of the imperial court. Our master instructed us that it is best not to cause any trouble. If we cannot kill him in one blow, it may cause even greater turmoil. We are about to reach the capital, and the city gates are all Cui's territory. Our mission this time cannot be exposed."
The two men, known as the second and third, disagreed. They agreed with the leader's words and slapped the hesitant man hard, whispering a reprimand:
“I told you long ago that you’re a coward, and that you shouldn’t have come along this time, but you insisted on coming anyway! What time is it now? That guy surnamed Cui is clearly aware of what’s going on. If we get stopped at the city gate, it will be even more difficult to handle. Alright, just keep an eye on the box when we make our move.”
Then he turned to the leader and whispered, "Brother, when do we make our move?"
"Hmm, let's speed up our journey first. We'll see if we can shake off that guy surnamed Cui in an hour. If we can't, then we'll make our move!"
"What about the group of cloth merchants following behind? They all look like ordinary people to me."
"I already warned them. Let's see if they understand. If they still follow us later, then we can't blame them for being ruthless. Their fates are recorded in the Book of Life and Death of the King of Hell. They can only blame their bad luck!"
This means that if we run into each other later, we'll attack together.
"Understood!" The second and third brothers nodded, and then silently drew their weapons from the cart, applying deadly poison to the blades as they traveled.
Cui Ling followed at a distance, neither too close nor too far, though he couldn't see these subtle movements clearly.
But he could sense that these people wanted to shake him off. As they drove faster and faster, the clattering of hooves on the official road quickened, so he squeezed his legs against the horse's belly and sped up as well.
Jiang Yaozu and the others behind were puzzled. Seeing that the speed ahead was getting faster and faster, they wondered, "Why are you suddenly walking so fast? Uncle, we're still pushing things. We definitely won't be able to keep up at this rate."
The old man saw it too, and became a little anxious. He then felt that he had misjudged the person and had been taken advantage of. He slapped his thigh and complained:
"How can they do things like this? They used our Jiang family's ancestral wound medicine, and they agreed to travel together and escort us to the capital, but now they want to abandon us halfway. They have no integrity whatsoever! And this is supposed to be an important person? What a waste of our medicine!"
"It's no use talking about this now, what should we do, Uncle?" someone asked.
The old man wanted to keep up, feeling that the other party was a benefactor and couldn't be wrong. However, after looking at the few laborers who were helping to push the goods, he gave up the idea, sighed, and waved his hand, saying, "Forget it, we still have so much goods to carry. Let's try our best to keep up. If we can keep up, great; if not, so be it!"
Some people felt it was a pity, but Jiang Yaozu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He always felt that the man was not a good person, and following him was not a good thing.
It's good that we're separating now!
Gradually, the distance between the two sides widened, and Jiang Yaozu felt more at ease.
Although he wasn't very worldly or tactful in his dealings with others, he was quite knowledgeable and had a good grasp of math.
After silently calculating the gains from this trip, he was quite satisfied and said enthusiastically, "Uncle, although we suffered a lot of losses on the road, we bartered along the way, buying low and selling high. Once we get to the capital with the goods in the truck and sell them, we can still make a lot of money. It's much better than staying at home."
Another cousin, upon hearing this, also became hopeful, nodding and agreeing with a smile: "Yes, although times are tough and we've paid a lot in tolls, thankfully those people are law-abiding, and the journey has been relatively uneventful. On the return trip, we can bring back goods again and continue bartering, which will bring in a decent income. If things go smoothly each time, it won't take long before we can buy forty or fifty acres of land back home, become a small landlord, and live a peaceful life. We won't have to work so hard leaving our hometown to do business anymore."
Looking at his nephews' unambitious appearance, the old man felt a pang of emotion: "What are forty or fifty acres of land? Back when our Jiang family was in our hometown, although we weren't a high-ranking family, we were still well-off and had some surplus. Every family in the clan had at least sixty or seventy acres, or even a hundred acres. Marriage and education for our children were no problem. But then there was turmoil, a change of dynasty, and we fled south and lost everything. We had to start all over again."
Just when things were starting to stabilize and begin to improve, these past few years have seen a series of natural and man-made disasters. The prices of rice, flour, and oil are skyrocketing. It seems like God is deliberately making life unbearable for us!
"In chaotic times, people are worse off than dogs," that's the saying. We haven't reached that point yet, but it's pretty much the same, someone sighed.
After saying that, he turned to look at Jiang Yaozu: "Yaozu, you were the best student in our clan back then, and you even passed the county-level exam, which was a great honor for the family. It's a pity that you didn't have the right timing. If you could have continued to take the exams, you might have passed the provincial-level exam, and your life would have been completely different!"
"Let alone becoming a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial examination), he might even become a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the imperial examination). Isn't Yaozu's classmate from back then the current high-ranking official Zhang, who is now a first-rank official in the court?" the old man chimed in.
He began to reminisce about the past: "Think back to when we went back to pay respects to our ancestors and move the graves, how glorious the Zhang family was! Everyone envied them, and the legend of Lord Zhang was known throughout the county and surrounding areas. Who didn't know it?"
His tone was full of regret, as if his nephew would definitely have passed the exam if he had continued taking it.
Jiang Yaozu himself was the most embarrassed, waving his hands repeatedly, very modest. He knew his own limitations. "Uncle, you think too highly of me. It was already a great achievement for me to pass the county-level examination, let alone the provincial-level examination. There is a huge gap between the county-level and provincial-level examinations, and the difference between the county-level and provincial-level examinations is like heaven and earth. Please don't say that anymore, and don't make fun of me, lest others hear it and laugh at me."
"What a joke!" the old man said, displeased. He paused in stroking his short, white beard and said sternly, "You are a scholar, there are written documents to prove it. You and Lord Zhang are from the same year, it's not a lie. The reason I brought you to the capital this time was so that you could take this opportunity to visit Lord Zhang's residence, become familiar with him, see if Lord Zhang still remembers you, and perhaps establish a connection. This would make doing business much easier in the future."
"Huh? Uncle, you want me to go to the Zhang residence? Why didn't you tell me before?" Jiang Yaozu sat up straight with a look of astonishment.
The old man nodded, his face showing a look of utter disappointment, and glanced sideways at him:
"Otherwise, why do you think I would have brought you all the way from the south to the capital? You're not much of a help, and you haven't made much progress in your interpersonal skills over the years. You can't even make it to the government office where you finally found a job as a clerk. What a waste of your scholar status!"
"Why not use your connections? This is a perfect opportunity, why not give it a try? Do you think you can just come and go as you please in Beijing? You're practically waist-deep, and you still don't know how to be flexible!"
Jiang Yaozu was thoroughly embarrassed by Jiang's outburst. He explained that because Jiang worked in the government office, his clan believed they could rely on him to gradually expand their wealth, so most of them didn't return to their ancestral home and instead settled near Jinling in the south. Later, they went back and sold off their land, cutting off their escape route.
Who knew that he would eventually leave the government office again.
This has always been a knot in his heart.
"This...this..." Jiang Yaozu was speechless, scratching his head in frustration.
Although these are all true, aside from being slightly better at studying, he never speaks well or knows how to read people's expressions.
When he was young, his father protected him, but since his parents passed away, his wife is just as bad at managing the household as he is. He also has several older sisters who need financial support. He spends more than he earns, and his savings are dwindling. His life is getting worse year by year.
When his uncle suddenly invited him to do business in the capital, he thought he was really interested in him. But it turned out that his uncle just wanted him to take the opportunity to build a relationship with him.
“But we haven’t seen each other for many years, decades. Our statuses are worlds apart now. People probably don’t even remember me. It would be so embarrassing to just show up like this. What if I get kicked out? People would laugh at me and I’d lose all face.”
The old man didn't take it seriously and rolled his eyes at his nephew: "Don't worry, this is the capital. How much embarrassment can we cause? Nobody will know. What's wrong with giving it a try?"
"Didn't I tell you to bring your scholar's certificate and all that? You and Lord Zhang are from the same hometown and graduated in the same year. What a deep bond that is! With just a little help from him, you'll benefit immensely, and it will even help your descendants. Isn't that wonderful!"
"Sigh, it's really hard to say, it would be too abrupt for others!"
Although we have been struggling financially in recent years, our family is harmonious because our children and grandchildren are all filial.
Therefore, Jiang Yaozu's temperament has not changed much since his youth. He still hasn't learned the sophistication and tact of an adult. He may never learn the skill of saying one thing to one person and another to another.
At the same time, the time he spent taking the imperial examinations was one of the most beautiful memories of his life, and he did not want to resell this experience or measure its value as a commodity.
"Ordinary people also have their own happiness. Three meals a day, working at sunrise and resting at sunset is quite good. Besides, we still have enough to eat and are not at the point of starvation. Let's just let this matter go!"
Upon hearing this, the old man sighed again, lamenting what a waste of his scholar status!
However, once they arrived in the capital, the nephew had no choice but to comply. He had to use both soft and hard tactics to get his nephew to make a visit!
As the sun grew increasingly intense, the convoy stopped to rest for a while before continuing on its way. More than an hour passed in the blink of an eye.