Chen Ping was a little surprised. This was a major event. He asked again, "When will it be postponed? Where did you get the news?"
Zhao Wenhe sat cross-legged on the bamboo platform, worried.
Cheng Cheng said: "My father got the news from the capital! It is said that it is postponed. It is not yet known when the exam will start. An official document may be issued in the near future."
If the imperial court really issues an official document, it cannot be faked.
"It seems that the battle in the north has exhausted Dayu Chao." Zhao Wenhe said earnestly.
He looked at Chen Ping again and said comfortingly, "Selecting scholars through the imperial examination is a major matter for the court. Even if it is postponed, it will only be two years at most, so there is no need to rush it."
Chen Ping nodded for a while, "Teacher, I understand."
I am a bitter reader in a cold window, but I am still a minority in the Spring and Autumn Period.
Chen Ping is still young and will only be twenty in two years. It is not too late for him.
Half a month later, Zhao Jin came to the door looking very tired and dressed in smart clothes.
"Originally, I thought you were preparing for the provincial examination, so I didn't have time to tell you something, but now it doesn't matter."
When he walked in, there was wind on his feet, much sharper than when he was a businessman.
Hearing Zhao Jin's words, several teenagers suddenly became excited.
"What news?" Ye Chongwen asked in shock: "Did you find some clues?"
"If it weren't for this kind of news, naturally I wouldn't show up."
Zhao Jin nodded to them, and then took out a piece of letter paper from his sleeve.
Jiulong Hall is now developing and growing, and he has to sit in the hall every day, and all kinds of news come in one after another.
During this period, Chen Ping saw Zhao Jin for the first time.
He took the letter and opened it quickly, but there were only five words on the letter: Jianzhou Zangnan Town!
"Jianzhou?" He Qingxuan asked in surprise: "What's here?"
"Jianzhou is adjacent to Qingzhou, and if I remember correctly, Qingzhou has always been the entrance and exit of Dayu Shipping." Chen Ping said.
Not only that, Qingzhou also has a maritime defense army.
Compared with Qingzhou, Jianzhou seems a little less famous.
"Could it... have something to do with sea salt?" It has something to do with the seaside, so it must be sea salt. Chen Ping expressed his guess.
"Ha, as expected, you are the quickest in thinking," Zhao Jin said. "Originally, I was sent to find private salt farms on the east coast. There are many private salt collectors in Jianzhou!"
The Dayu Dynasty implemented the Salt Law, which means that the government obtained salt from salt households at a very low price, sold it to some merchants at a high price, and gave them licenses to sell salt.
In this case, not only will those salt households not be able to get the due remuneration for their labor, but when they need salt in the future, they will have to buy salt from merchants at high prices. In addition, the government's taxes on these salt households are generally very harsh. Salt households
Life is always extremely difficult.
As the saying goes, "A family of ten, ten people eat salt; a family of a hundred, a hundred people eat salt." Salt is a necessity of life, and the daily demand is very huge.
The government is only responsible for the license to sell official salt, but it is not responsible for the quality of the official salt afterwards, which also leads to the poor reputation of official salt among the people.
Under such circumstances, private salt is cheap and of high quality, and its sales will definitely be better than official salt.
Salt sales are very profitable, allowing people to forget the danger of their lives, and the huge temptation of profits will make more people join the ranks of selling illegal salt.
Therefore, many individuals in the southeastern coastal areas sell private salt, and some have formed large-scale private salt farms, which are of course relatively hidden.
"I didn't expect that other iron mines have not been found, but the salt farm has been found." Ye Chongwen was greatly surprised.
"But there is only one Zangnan Town. The specific location has not been found yet?"
A town is not a small town, and it is not easy to find a place, and it is still far away.
Zhao Jin shook his head and said cautiously: "Something happened on Ling Shu's side, and the supply of goods related to it may have been affected. Our people only found Zangnan Town, and the specific location needs to be investigated again."<
/p>
"Zangnan Town?" Chen Ping stared at the letter and suddenly said, "How about we go over and have a look in person?"
As soon as these words came out, He Qingxuan was immediately shocked, "Go there in person?"
"There is nothing to investigate here in Qianzhou, and there has been no progress in other directions. We finally got a clue. Do we have to wait like this?"
Chen Ping couldn't sit still anyway, and it's not very far from Jianzhou.
"I had planned to go there and see for myself," Zhao Jin had already expected, "It takes ten days to get there from here to Jianzhou."
"In that case, let's go!" Ye Chongwen said resolutely, "Just as the imperial examination has been postponed, we have plenty of time."
Chen Ping also had this intention and nodded.
Moreover, it has been almost ten years since he came to this world, and he has never left Qianzhou.
The farthest place we have traveled is Zhengxing Mansion where we are now.
The scenery of Dayu is by no means limited to one place. It is human nature for scholars to travel and study in various places. Zhao Wenhe would not refuse it if he wanted to.
"If you really want to go there, you have to be well prepared. At least you have to find a reason that won't arouse suspicion."
Going to a strange place for no reason would hardly arouse suspicion based on their status.
But this is not a difficult problem for Chen Ping.
"Is Jianzhou coastal? Then let's go there in the name of doing marine fish business. It just so happens that I also want to see the sea."
The drying and processing of salt are all in the hands of the government, especially iron.
Only when salt merchants first buy salt can they sell salt and form cooperation with the government.
However, this kind of cooperation can easily lead to collusion between government and businessmen, especially since the sea is boundless and there are endless private salt dealers.
Even the government is sometimes unable to do anything about it.
Therefore, it is impractical to run a sea salt business, as they are unfamiliar with the place and cannot get involved.
But sea fish have always been more popular inland, so this reason makes sense.
"However, the situation in Jianzhou is unclear, so you still have to be careful. And you have to leave someone at home to watch over you." Zhao Jin suggested.
The organization behind Lingshu is mysterious and unpredictable, so they are taking every step carefully to avoid completely cutting off their retreat.
"Of course it's Qingxuan," Chen Ping said directly: "Qingxuan is supposed to take care of his own business and contact Jiulong Hall. With him here, he can handle anything that happens."
He Qingxuan nodded in agreement, and several people prepared separately.
After Chen Ping returned to the college, he expressed his thoughts to Zhao Wenhe. The teacher was still very supportive, but only reminded him to pay attention to safety.
Cheng Cheng asked to go with him, but Chen Ping refused. Zhao Wenhe took him back to his room to do his homework.
......
In the early morning a few days later, Chen Ping, Ye Chongwen, and Zhao Jin went straight to Jianzhou.
Along the official road, the scenery on both sides is no different from that outside Qianzhou.
Chen Ping quickly lost interest and suffered from a headache during the bumps. It was really difficult to adapt to the long-distance travel in ancient times.
Nine days later, when I smelled the first sea breeze with a fishy and salty smell, I finally slowed down.
On the evening of the tenth day, everyone rushed to Zangnan Town.
This town is close to the sea, and most of the houses are not made of wood, but are basically made of stones or seaweed houses.
Fish flags and paper boats are hung outside teahouses, restaurants and inns, and the folk customs are still very warm.
It's just that the place is a bit remote, and there aren't many people on the streets, unlike some big towns in the interior.
A few people chose a teahouse to rest and called the waiter, "Would you like some beef and vegetarian dishes? Please hurry up. I'm really hungry?"
"Are a few of them from outside the city?" the waiter asked after hearing this.
Chen Ping asked, "I don't know, how did you tell?"
As soon as the waiter said this, the guests at the nearby table couldn't help but laugh before the waiter opened his mouth.
"This is Jianzhou. If you want fish, meat, and chicken, whoever comes over will ask for beef!"
Several people turned around when they heard the sound and saw a young man with thick eyebrows and big eyes smiling at them.
"If I guess correctly, is this your first time coming to Jianzhou?"