In the blink of an eye, it is already the end of the first lunar month.
The examination period was finally determined, and the first session of the county examination was scheduled for the sixth day of February, with the first main session and the second review session, focusing on the two four-book essays on the sixth day of February.
With the help of the palace, Zhu Hao's bond was handled properly. As a candidate who took the same exam as Zhu Hao, Yuan Rulin and Zhu Hao became a bond, which is equivalent to guaranteeing each other.
"The county exam is not that difficult. With Fan Xuezheng as your teacher, you have a great chance of success."
Tang Yin is very optimistic about Zhu Hao's exam.
Zhu Hao's knowledge was displayed there, and he was afraid of being targeted because of his young age, but the former Honshu Xuezheng is now a teacher in the palace, and Zhu Hao himself is the prince's companion, and he also has the Zhu family of Jinyiwei as his backers.
Your network of connections is very strong, why should you worry about being targeted?
Zhu Hao shook his head and said: "I'm afraid that the more this happens, the more criticism you will encounter afterwards, and you will be targeted during the government examination!"
Tang Yin was still talking there and saying some words of encouragement. When he heard this, he suddenly realized that his comforting words might be okay if he said them to others, but if he said them to Zhu Hao...even if he didn't educate me in turn.
Not bad, am I asking for trouble?
…
…
Since late January, Zhu San has rarely appeared in class.
They usually come only once every two or three days. The explanation given by Zhu Si is that his sister has been too busy recently and has learned many things that a princess must learn, such as women's school, court etiquette, knitting women's clothing, etc.
At first, outsiders thought that the noble little princess did not need to learn those things. After all, she had maids to take care of her and did not need to do it herself. Who knew that this was not the case at all.
Zhu Hao didn't know what it was like in other palaces, but judging from the education in Prince Xing's palace, Zhu San and Zhu Si were really raised as children of ordinary families, without any special treatment.
Prince Xing hopes that his son will become a dragon, and he also hopes that his daughter will become a phoenix.
Now there are only three little guys, Zhu Si, Lu Bing and Jinghong, left in the classroom. As for Zhu Hao and Yuan Rulin, Tang Yin took them out for individual pre-exam training to prepare for the upcoming county examination.
Zhu Hao never thought of writing too many essays.
In his previous life, when he was studying for a doctorate in literature, he had almost thoroughly studied the imperial examination articles. He published dozens of papers for this purpose. He almost disassembled the eight-part essay and wrote articles that suit the taste of different examiners.
If you write too much about eight-part essays, you will easily get into trouble. If you understand the basic routines and know how to make propositions and topics, the rest is to read more.
Confucianism is extremely complex, and different people have different interpretations of the same content of the Four Books and Five Classics. None of the books or biographies are easy to understand. Reading such academic articles is not interesting at all.
As for the Zhu family.
Suddenly he stopped, as if he didn't want to pursue the matter of being defrauded of two hundred and fifty taels of silver.
"My little boss, it's strange to say that recently, the steward of the Zhu family didn't even come to the ferry. He didn't even say that he was going to make the matter bigger or take back the money. So... this is the end of the matter? Jin Yiwei... I've heard that
There are many methods, do you need to be more careful?"
Shopkeeper Ma felt it was too quiet.
The Zhu family suffered the loss of being mute, and actually became mute? This is not like the Zhu family's style, as if a storm is brewing, but they don't know when it will break out.
Zhu Hao narrowed his eyes and said, "Does Shopkeeper Ma think that the Zhu family is targeting me, the business, Boss Su, or you?"
Shopkeeper Ma shook his head: "I can't say that."
Zhu Hao smiled and said: "We are not sure whether they are going to take action, let alone the direction in which they will take action. So we can only take precautions first, as long as it does not interfere with the normal start of our business. We have also been paying attention to whether there are any strange faces coming to our door recently."
Wandering around the warehouse...
"Didn't I tell you before that I would open a store in Jingshan County? We can transport the goods that are temporarily unused here to Jingshan County. Not only can we share the pressure, but we can also make profits."
"The little boss is saying that the Zhu family may be harmful to our warehouse?" Shopkeeper Ma looked thoughtful.
If the Zhu family hires someone to set fire, steal, or do other things like killing people and stealing goods...
It’s scary just thinking about it!
Zhu Hao said: "It shouldn't happen! If you have to live and die for more than two hundred taels of silver, the Zhu family's structure is too small. By the way, how is the situation with the Ouyang family?"
Shopkeeper Ma didn't expect that Zhu Hao would be so interested in the affairs of the Ouyang family.
"Little boss, as far as I know, the Ouyang family's business is becoming increasingly unsustainable, and their cargo ships are all mortgaged. They will have to pay off their debts after the year. Even if you helped them save hundreds of taels of silver before... But
They still couldn't repay their debts, and in the end..."
Shopkeeper Ma probably means that you are helping Ouyang Nu recover part of her losses, but the problem is that the hole in Ouyang's family cannot be filled with that little money.
Zhu Hao nodded: "The Ouyang family's cargo ship has been mortgaged? Do you have the ship deed? If you want to buy their ship..."
Shopkeeper Ma said in surprise: "Do we really want to buy a boat? Even if we do, we can also buy someone else's. This kind of boat can easily lead to lawsuits, which is very troublesome."
Zhu Hao smiled and said: "Cheap is the most important thing. To make our business bigger and stronger, we need transportation tools... The collapsed house business is only a part of our business. If we can get a few ships back, we won't have to go up the Han River to transport any goods in the future."
Those ship owners threaten to make more money in the long run."
"That's the truth, but the boss really doesn't need to worry about the Ouyang family, and they may not appreciate it."
In Shopkeeper Ma's view, the Ouyang family failed Su Xigui's good intentions and eagerly came to Anlu to steal the mirror business. They never expected to be tricked by the Zhu family and lose everything. It was entirely their own fault.
Zhu Hao said: "Old Ma, do you think I am doing charity? If they were not desperate, do you think they would sell the ship to us? Do you think it is that easy to take over their business channel? I will have to give it to them next.
Add fire to the fire, I don’t want the Zhu family to make money, and it will all fall into my hands in the end!"
Shopkeeper Ma: "..."
…
…
The days are approaching the end of the month day by day.
Because her son is about to take the imperial examination, Zhu Niang has not been interested in doing business recently. She is a bit talkative. She likes to go to her late husband's memorial place and make a beep. She seems to hope that her late husband can bless her son and help Zhu Hao pass the county examination smoothly.
As for business matters...
As the "accountant", she is only responsible for checking whether there are any discrepancies in the accounts. This kind of thing is basically no problem as long as you know the abacus.
In terms of business management, Ma Yan is the one who is busy running around, and Zhu Hao is the one who makes suggestions and decisions. On the contrary, Zhu Niang is only the head of the family in name only, enjoying the benefits brought by her son.
"Xiao Hao, you said you want to buy a boat. A big boat with 400 pieces of materials, even if it has been launched five years ago, will cost at least 100 taels of silver. And the freight is only a few taels of silver at a time. Should you think about it?"
Zhu Niang wanted to save money, but she felt that her son's suggestion was right.
Now she will discuss everything with Zhu Hao.
Zhu Hao said: "To buy a boat to offset the debt, one can get it for an estimated seventy or eighty taels of silver. Let's buy five of them at a time. With the money we make from the house demolition business, we should be able to pay for all the expenses."
Next to her, Aunt Li said happily: "This business has only been in business for three months, and we can make five big ships. Who will believe it? Master Hao is still good at doing business, and shopkeeper Ma is also a capable person, and Su
The host has such a wide network of connections that he can be so happy."
Investing the money you earn sounds fine.
"Mom, I know what you are worried about. You want me to use the money I earn to prepare for taking the imperial examination in the future, but I can't spend much money on the imperial examination... If I really have a chance to pass the examination, or even pass the imperial examination,
I will be an official in other places, and it will be useless to buy too many properties in Anlu at that time."
Zhu Hao smiled and looked forward to his future life to Zhu Niang.
Zhu Niang rolled her eyes at her son: "How can it be as easy as you said?"
Aunt Li said: "I think Master Hao is capable, and he might be able to achieve it in the future? With the guidance of a famous teacher and the support of the royal family, do ordinary children have such a strong relationship?"
Zhu Niang looked at Aunt Li curiously, as if she felt that the attitude of this sister in the boudoir today was very abnormal, and she was all talking for Zhu Hao.
"Xiao Hao, there is one more thing I want to confirm with you one last time. Is it really okay for you to take part in the imperial examination without the permission of the Zhu family?"
Zhu Niang expressed her final worries.
Zhu Hao smiled and said: "No problem, I have completed all the procedures to participate in the imperial examination. I am just waiting for the day when the examination starts."
Zhu Niang seemed to have let go of the big stone hanging in her heart, and her face looked a little determined: "Then I can rest assured."
…
…
The county examination period is approaching.
While Zhu Hao is preparing for the exam, it does not affect him in managing his business.
The opera troupe is operating normally. Since returning to Anlu in the first year, Zhu Hao has brought about 300 taels of profit just from operating the theater. This is after excluding the high profit share given to the troupe members.
However, the local market has basically been drained, and bottlenecks have emerged.
Zhu Hao's pursuit of business in the theater is not high, so he lets the people in the troupe practice stage skills so that when they go to a bigger city, they can set up a stall and engage in the entertainment industry.
The contract expired years ago.
She didn't renew the contract, but she didn't leave either. The theater troupe was having a lot of good shows at the moment, and the local opera troupe business was comparable to that of the provincial capital, and no local theater troupe could compete with them. In addition, the owner was generous and offered high dividends.
...Whoever leaves is a fool!
But people in the troupe began to have opinions.
It's okay for you, Gong Yeling, to sign a contract of prostitution and become a leading actor in a theater troupe. Now that the contract has expired, you are still occupying the leading role and refusing to give it up, making a big profit. Why do you have that?
The number of people in the theater troupe has grown from a dozen people at the beginning to more than 30 people now. It is easy to do things if you have money.
Among the female actors alone, there are now eight people who can perform independently on the stage, and everyone covets the position of Gong Yeling.
Gong Yeling could only say that he would leave the troupe after the new year after Zhu Hao settled down, and would only come and perform a few performances as a special guest in the future. But to people in the troupe, it sounded like he didn't really mean what he said...
Especially the new female actors, everyone wants to rise to the top.
The decision-making power rests with Zhu Hao alone.
So every time Zhu Hao appeared at the troupe station or backstage, the beautiful female actors would wink at her, making Zhu Hao feel that spring was coming...