My eunuch godfather

Chapter 21 Continuing South

Guo Residence in Hejian City.

"Get out of here, you useless piece of trash!"

Guo, the student, smashed the teacup on the ground and shrieked at the servant.

The servant kowtowed several times and scrambled out of the room.

Filled with resentment, Guo, the student, stood up and paced back and forth in the room.

During this period, the storyteller hired by Zhang Kun, in addition to promoting the story, also told the story of Guo Shengyuan abandoning his bride and running away everywhere.

Moreover, they embellished the story, portraying Guo Shengyuan as a complete clown.

In recent days, they have intensified their actions, spreading rumors that the Guo family is superficially apologizing while secretly threatening the Sun family.

As a result, Guo, a student, had to ask the prefectural school for leave and hide at home.

There was a knock on the door, and someone entered the room.

"Get lost, don't bother me!"

Without turning his head, Guo shouted and cursed, but then he heard a familiar voice behind him, "You scoundrel!"

Turning around, he saw Guo, the scholar, standing at the door with a cane. Guo, the student, quickly knelt down and admitted his mistake:

"Your child was wrong, your child thought it was..."

"Just a few rumors! You can't even handle that?"

Guo, the scholar, scolded his good-for-nothing son:

"Back when your great-grandfather was admitted to the county school, our family was not well-off, and a corner of our ancestral land had been encroached upon by other families!"

Your great-grandfather didn't complain or blame the world; instead, he worked hard and studied diligently!

Not only do you not go to the prefectural school, but you also don't study properly at home. You're truly useless!

"Dad, those bastards are all laughing at me, laughing at our family!"

Guo, the student kneeling on the ground, couldn't stop the tears from flowing as he cried out to Guo, the scholar who had passed the imperial examinations.

"Just a few sarcastic remarks."

Guo, the scholar, grabbed his cane and pounded the ground several times, then said to Guo, the student, in a deep voice:

"Your father suffered even more ridicule when he injured this leg, but he still pulled through."

Right now, our family has only lost some financial gains. As long as our academic achievements are still recognized, our fundamentals have not been harmed!

Your father has done his best to arrange for you to move to the Imperial Academy in Nanjing to study.

Once you pass the provincial examination, let's see if they still dare to laugh at you!

If you move to the Imperial College in Nanjing, no matter how powerful your eunuch godfather Zhang is, he won't be able to reach you there, right?

"I understand, child!"

Guo, the student, wiped away his tears with his sleeve, looked up at Guo, the scholar, and said in a shrill voice:

"I will study hard and achieve even greater success in the imperial examinations, so that they will never dare to mock the Guo family again!"

Meanwhile, at the Hejian Prefectural Government Office.

The prefect of Hejian, the guerrilla commander, and Zhang Kun met again to discuss how to write the report on suppressing the bandits.

"...Your Excellency, I have heard some news..."

Zhang Kun wasn't particularly interested in how the report was written; the main credit went to the prefect and the guerrilla commander. He changed the subject, saying:

"The Sun family in Changfeng Town, the one famous for brewing wine, plans to move the whole family out of Hejian."

"Oh?"

The guerrilla next to him feigned surprise and took over the conversation, asking:

"I often drink the Sun family's liquor. Their business is doing quite well, so why are they moving away?"

"General, it's still related to those damned thieves."

Zhang Kun pointed to the draft report on the table and sighed to the guerrilla:

"The marriage agreement between the Sun family and the Guo family was broken by thieves, turning them from in-laws into enemies, which is difficult to resolve."

Rumors are circulating in the city that although the Guo family has returned all the gifts, they are secretly trying to save face.

The prefect of Hejian remained silent, inwardly complaining:

If it weren't for your aggressive approach, Zhang Kun, who ransacked the Guo residence under the pretext of arresting spies, it would have been a disaster.

They caused a fire that burned down most of Guo Juren's study and hundreds of books, and then pinned all the blame on the traitors.

Even if the two families had a feud, it wasn't as deep as it is now.

"The Sun family has no official rank; how can they possibly rival the Guo family?"

Zhang Kun continued to express his admiration for the guerrillas and the prefect:

"It's a pity that in the future, it will be difficult to drink the Sun family's fine wine in Hejian."

"Your Excellency, the Sun family must pay a considerable amount of taxes to the prefecture and county every year, right?"

The guerrilla turned to the prefect and advised him:

"We have to find a way to keep the Sun family here. Even if we can't keep the Sun family, we must keep the good wine!"

What does it mean to say that even if the Sun family can't be kept...?

The prefect instantly understood the guerrilla's implication and continued, "..."

"The general is right. The Sun family pays a lot of taxes every year, and they are happy to donate whenever the prefecture or county needs anything."

It would be best to keep the Sun family here.

"Your Excellency, I believe it will be difficult for the Sun family to remain."

Zhang Kun shook his head and suggested to the prefect:

"However, the government can take the lead in finding a few wineries to take over the Sun family's wineries."

"Let them pay the master craftsmen at the Sun family's distillery a sufficiently high wage to preserve their skills."

"Zhang Baihu's idea is quite good."

The guerrillas nearby expressed their support:

"The Sun family must support at least two or three hundred people in Hejian. If they lose their livelihood, there will probably be trouble."

"...The government should step in."

After a moment's thought, the prefect realized that this was a very profitable deal and agreed, turning to look at Zhang Kun.

Clearly, this matter couldn't be accomplished without Zhang Kun.

Whether the Guo family secretly threatened the Sun family is difficult to verify.

Seeing that the prefect was very interested, Zhang Kun quoted a price:

"But that student Guo is morally flawed. I think the prefectural school should report this to the Censor-in-Chief of Education in the capital and have him stripped of his academic title!"

"The prefectural school has already reprimanded him, demoting him from a subsidized student to a supplementary student..."

The prefect hesitated, knowing that doing so would completely offend the Guo family.

"Oh dear, what a heartless, ungrateful, and untrustworthy person!"

The guerrilla officer beside Zhang Kun helped persuade the prefect:

"If one is lucky enough to pass the provincial examination, or even the metropolitan examination, the emperor will bestow upon them the title of Jinshi after the palace examination."

After serving his full term in a certain county, he was promoted to censor in both capitals, but he still kept this matter in mind.

He probably wouldn't think the Prefect was teaching him, but rather that the Prefect was harming him!

That's true, either don't offend anyone, or go all the way!

In the Ming Dynasty, county magistrates were often promoted not to become assistant officials in prefectures or counties, but directly to become censors in the two capitals.

Thinking of the potential impeachment he might face, the prefect made up his mind and said to Zhang Kun and the guerrilla:

"The prefectural school's mere reprimand and demotion are far too lenient. I, the prefect, will personally write a report on this matter!"

......

To Zhang Kun's surprise, the river workers recruited in Xinzhuang...

Not only were many of the river workers' families not poor, but more than twenty of them could ride horses!

In later generations, it would be like someone who owns a BMW, Mercedes-Benz, or Audi still having to work on a construction site.

Zhang Kun decided to take these people with him and continue south to Dezhou to meet up with the fleet.

As for the more than 1,000 river workers who couldn't be taken along, they remained at the temporary camp in Hejian to continue their training.

Zhang Kun left behind ten skilled fighters and servants, including Yang Desheng and Cao Meng, to manage the camp together with Sun Jing and Sun Shoujing.

With the addition of the prefect of Hejian and the guerrillas, even if some troubles occur during this period, they can be quelled.

Once the fleet recruited laborers in Linqing and turned north, Zhang Kun would come over to lead the laborers to rejoin the fleet.

At the same time, the Sun family, having sold off all their assets, took their family members with them to Tianjin.

After departing from Hejian, we traveled for a day and arrived at Lechengmayi in Xian County.

Then there are Fuzhuang Horse Station in Jiahe County, Fucheng Horse Station in Fucheng County, and Dongguang Horse Station in Jingzhou.

Twenty days had passed since Zhang Kun and Chen Jizong split up in Jinghai when they arrived at Andemayi in Dezhou.

To Zhang Kun's surprise, Chen Jizong's fleet had only reached Xinqiao Shuiyi in Nanpi County!

No, Old Chen, I was telling you to slow down and wait for me, but you're walking way too slowly!