Chapter 48

（Got censored again, crying...）－

A few days later, Li Jian, following Chen Ke's instructions, brought rich gifts to the county office to request an audience. However, Magistrate Song showed strong displeasure at his attempt to view the documents, and left the room in a huff, leaving Li Jian in a state of panic.

Perhaps considering the fifty taels of silver, after a while, an official came out to say that there was no time to find the document that day and asked him to come back in three days.

Three days later, Li Jian arrived as agreed. This time, he did not see Magistrate Song, but County Clerk Lu showed him the document issued by the Yizhou Road Transport Commissioner's Office. It clearly stated that Qing Shen Huang Jiao wine was listed as a tribute, and every September, the Transport Commissioner's Office would purchase one hundred barrels of original wine, paying five guan per barrel.

Seeing the large red seal of the Transport Commissioner's Office, Li Jian's last bit of hope was dashed. He left the office in a daze, describing the document to Chen Ke and said with tears in his eyes, "Third Brother, let's just accept it. This is really an imperial order, and you can't win even if you sue..."

"..." Chen Ke frowned deeply, and after a long pause, he said, "You know, my father used to be a clerk in the county office. I asked him if the document management there was really so chaotic that it took three days to find a document from the Transport Commissioner's Office. Do you know what he said?"

"What did he say?"

"He laughed and said that if it was a document from ten years ago, it might take three days to find. But documents directly from the Transport Commissioner's Office, which might only come three or five times a year, are kept in the magistrate's drawer for easy reference." Chen Ke said solemnly, "Why didn't he show it to you right away, but waited three days?"

"Third Brother, stop being so suspicious." Li Jian was completely deflated, "The document from the Transport Commissioner's Office, with its large red seal, can't be faked!"

"Can't be faked?" Chen Ke slowly shook his head.

"Heaven, you must be crazy." Li Jian shook his head in despair, "I dare not go crazy with you."

When they couldn't agree, Chen Ke got up to see him off.

After returning, he sat on a stone lock in the front yard, lost in thought. Currently, the Chen family's main sources of income were four... the Huang Jiao wine factory, which brought in nearly a million coins annually; the Laifu Winehouse, which brought in 700,000 to 800,000 coins; the Lotus Charcoal Factory, which brought in 200,000 to 300,000 coins; and the charcoal factory, which was still in the expansion phase and brought in only 70,000 to 80,000 coins annually.

An annual income of two million coins was enough for the Chen family to live a life envied by all. Chen Ke was also quite satisfied with the current situation, as it allowed him to focus on his studies and prepare for a good future.

Who knew this would happen. If they really gave up like Li Jian, not only would the family's income be halved, but the indignation would be unbearable!

If it were in the future, he might have to swallow his indignation, but this was the Song Dynasty. Was there no place to seek justice?!

In the end, he still had a glimmer of hope for this era that produced Fan Zhongyan, Bao Zheng, Sima Guang, Ouyang Xiu, Wang Anshi, Su Shi... He firmly believed that a dark and corrupt country that only knew how to exploit the people could not produce so many upright gentlemen!

If a benevolent and kind ruler's reign was no different from the future, then China's five thousand years of history would be a complete fraud!

"Hope all reactionaries are paper tigers..." Chen Ke whispered to himself. He was determined to see if there was still any justice in the world!

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In no time, it was April, and they arrived at the Qing Shen East Gate wharf.

Compared to the last time he was here, the scene Su Xun saw was completely different.

In the early years of Qingli, the government and the wharf contractor spent a large sum of money to drive more than seven thousand wooden piles into the soft soil along the riverbank to build this hundred-zhang wharf. The construction of this wharf greatly increased the importance of Qing Shen—Qing Shen was already an important waterway for traveling from Sichuan to Leshan, Kuizhou, and the vast southern regions, and it was located at the center of two prefectures, three counties, and nine townships. Once the infrastructure was built, it naturally became an important transportation hub.

In Su Xun's memory, there was only a wooden bridge with three or five boats docked. But now, the large wharf was filled with masts and merchants, and the goods piled up like mountains, presenting a scene of prosperity. He couldn't help but exclaim, "It's even better than the wharf in Meishan."

"Perhaps your calculations will be off. Seeing how prosperous Qing Shen is, the expenses won't be less than in Meishan," Lady Cheng said with a gentle smile. She wore a well-fitted light blue robe, and her face was bare and natural... in this era, Neo-Confucianism had not yet been born, and women going out in public was as natural as wearing clothes. However, some moralists required their women to cover their faces when going out, a perverse possessiveness that was naturally ridiculed by society and had not yet become mainstream.

The naturally outgoing Sichuan girls only covered their faces in summer for sun protection and in winter for wind protection. On such a warm and pleasant spring day, you wouldn't find a single woman wearing a veil even if you searched all of Sichuan.

Behind them stood their two children, the siblings curiously looking at the strange devices on the wharf. The workers were using these devices to load and unload heavy cargo boxes between the wharf and the ships, which seemed to save both effort and time.

"Second Brother, what are these things?" Su Xiaomei, dressed in a light pink robe, with large, lively eyes, asked, extending her slender fingers. Her voice was as clear and pleasant as a spring.

"They look like桔槔 (a type of lever) and pulleys," Su Shi stared intently at the machinery, trying to figure out how it worked. "It must use the principle of 'rope control' mentioned in the 'Mo Jing'." The principle of 'rope control' is the pulley principle: "What do you think, Tongshu?"

"That's right." Su Zhe, who had seen it before, naturally thought deeper, "But knowing is easy, doing is hard. To apply these principles from books to actual labor and achieve such good results, this person's ability to apply knowledge is very strong."

"I've never seen Second Brother so impressed with someone." Su Xiaomei giggled, "Whether it's him or not, you just assume it's him."

"Hehe, let's make a bet," Su Shi said with a smile.

As they spoke, the boat docked at the wharf. Su Shi immediately asked the wharf workers and learned that these devices were called 'cranes' and were designed by Chen Jia's Third Son.

Su Shi returned with a proud stride, ready to boast to his sister. But he was met with a burst of nuts from his father: "Just got off the boat and you're running around. Don't you know to help with the luggage?" Although they only brought necessary books, clothes, and daily items, it was still a move for six people, filling more than a dozen trunks.

The 'cranes' at the wharf did not handle passengers' luggage, so Su Xun had to find a cart driver at the wharf and negotiate the price.

"So many trunks, one cart won't be enough," the cart driver said, puzzled. "Where are you going?"

"Find a guesthouse for us first."

"Oh, you're visiting relatives, I see." The cart driver smiled, "May I ask the name of your relative?"

"Uh... the surname is Chen," Su Xun hesitated.

"Is it the Chen Daren who lives on Wenxing Street?" The cart driver suddenly became excited.

"Yes." Su Xun hadn't expected that in the entire county, only the Chen family had the surname Chen.

"Next time, you should introduce yourself earlier," the cart driver immediately became enthusiastic, whistled, and summoned two large carts. Without the involvement of the Su family, he quickly and efficiently loaded the luggage onto the carts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just as they were about to leave, a loud shout came from behind: "Aunt, Aunt. Little Sister, Little Sister!"

The Su siblings, who had been chatting and laughing, turned around at the sound, and saw four young men in fine clothes on a newly arrived boat, two of whom were waving and shouting.

Su Xiaomei sighed, "Why do these clowns follow us wherever we go?"

"Don't say that," Lady Cheng smiled. "Zhiyuan and the others are also here to study in Qing Shen. We'll eventually run into them."

"The later we meet, the better," Su Xiaomei pouted.

"Big Cousin, didn't expect to run into you here, what a coincidence!" Su Zhe and Bayang looked quite uncomfortable, but Su Shi greeted his cousins with a cheerful smile.

"Yes, what a coincidence." A well-dressed, fair-faced young man, fanning himself, gracefully stepped off the boat. Compared to Su Shi, Su Xun, and Chen Ke, who were all handsome, he was a true beauty.

This young man was Cheng Zhi, the eldest son of the Cheng family, with the courtesy name Zhengfu. He walked elegantly to Lady Cheng, bowed, and said, "Nephew greets Aunt and Uncle."

"Hmm..." Su Xun only grunted, not out of malice but his usual manner.

"Zhengfu, are you bringing your brothers to school?" Lady Cheng, seeing her nephew and future son-in-law, was naturally affectionate.

"Yes, Aunt." Cheng Zhi replied fluently, "I originally wanted to participate in this year's imperial examination, but my father was too strict, saying my knowledge was not sufficient and I needed to study harder." He paused and continued, "I heard that the old master Wang at Zhongyan Academy is a jinshi graduate, with extensive knowledge and years of teaching experience, and is close to Ouyang Yongshu and Mei Shengyu. So my father sent me to study with him for a few years, so I can have a better chance in the next imperial examination."

Lady Cheng only asked one question, but Cheng Zhi gave a detailed and sincere explanation. Su Xiaomei, however, quickly stuck out her tongue and then resumed her ladylike demeanor.

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－分割－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

I'm not in good form tonight, feeling sleepy all the time. Please bear with me. I'll post the next chapter a bit later tomorrow morning. I need to catch up on some sleep...

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