The crow spread its wings and flew high, heading in the direction of the Songliu River.
Chu Xun stood in place for a mont, picked up the kitchen knife on the ground, and turned to go to the woodshed.
Near the Songliu Water God Temple, Zhang Anxiu sneaked around like a thief and found the old man who "guaranteed a son."
The old man had already packed up his cloth banner and wooden cabinet, preparing to leave.
Zhang Anxiu hurriedly stopped him and asked in a low voice, "Does it only guarantee a son? Does it handle anything else?"
The old man in an old Daoist robe grinned at her, "What's wrong, can't have a baby?"
Zhang Anxiu was a bit reserved, pinching the corner of her clothes, and nodded imperceptibly.
The old man chuckled and said, "My secret recipe handles everything. If you eat it and there's no effect, I guarantee a refund of silver, honest with both the old and the young!"
Zhang Anxiu hesitated; Chu Xun said this was a swindler.
But what if?
What if he wasn't?
Unable to have a baby for five years, even if the villagers didn't gossip, she couldn't bear it herself.
Gritting her teeth, Zhang Anxiu took out three taels of silver and bought a small bottle of pills.
They were grayish-brown and looked completely unremarkable.
She felt sowhat uneasy in her heart and asked again, "If it's useless, where do I find you?"
The old man patted his chest pledging solemnly, "Just co back here. I will be doing this business for a long ti, how could I deceive a little girl like you."
Seeing him like this, Zhang Anxiu couldn't say anything more.
She tucked the pills into her inner pocket, turned around, and went ho.
When she arrived ho, Chu Xun happened to be bringing dishes out from the woodshed.
A very ordinary pork stew with cabbage and vermicelli. It wasn't considered expensive, but in Pinecone Village, the only one who could eat like this every day was Chu Xun.
It was a pity that the Kingdom of Jing had only been established for a few years, and the Emperor valued the people's livelihood and agricultural production, forbidding the private sale of beef.
Violators would be punished with fifty strokes of the cane, and might even have their hos confiscated and be exiled.
Li Shoutian, whose hair was already graying, and his son Li Guangmao were both there.
The father and son had already taken the initiative to sit at the table and poured the fine wine.
Three taels a jar, a twenty-catty jar from the Bai Family Old Shop. They couldn't bear to drink it every day themselves, so they could only co to Chu Xun's house to freeload.
Perhaps feeling embarrassed to freeload wine like this, they would bring so pig head at or sothing similar every ti.
"Village Chief, Brother Guangmao is also here," Zhang Anxiu greeted.
Li Shoutian hurriedly said, "Coming this ti is to bring Ah Xun good news, not just solely for drinking."
Li Guangmao nodded repeatedly in agreent from the side, "That's right, that's right!"
"What good news?" Zhang Anxiu asked curiously.
Li Shoutian chuckled and said, "The County Magistrate asked to bring a ssage to Ah Xun, to make a trip to the county office in a few days to discuss the matter of promoting him to Secondary Guest."
As ntioned before, this honorary title of Honored Guest was divided into three grades.
The lowest grade was Ordinary Guest, which was Chu Xun's current position.
Above that was Secondary Guest, representing a not-low reputation in the countryside.
Further up was Great Guest, which only the most prestigious and senior rural gentry and powerful figures possessed.
However, even Secondary Guest was not that easy to be promoted to.
Obtaining this title would allow tax silver to be reduced by another twenty percent, and one son or grandson could enter the private school hosted by the county office.
To the people of the countryside, these were all tangible benefits.
Don't think that entering a private school seems to have little aning. However, the Kingdom of Jing was divided into three grades and fourteen registers, and the lowest grade, the lowly register, was not allowed to study.
Even those in the lowly register like fishern were regarded as the "lowly of the water dwellers," not allowed to live on shore, and not even allowed to intermarry with people on shore.
The farming register was divided into host households and guest households.
Host households were farrs or landlords who owned their own farmland, divided into five grades according to family property.
Guest households were those tenant farrs, having no farmland of their own and only able to rent and plant.
Although there were no restrictions on studying and taking the imperial examinations, there were prerequisites.
That was, there must be no lowly register within three generations, and a local Scholar was required as a guarantor.
If there was no Scholar in the local township, the County Magistrate would act as the guarantor.
In every village and town, there were those who had coincidentally risen from the lowly register to the farming register.
For example, soone from the lowly register joining the army, transferring to the military register, and after making ritorious contributions, could leave the lowly register and enter the farming register.
It was just that if three generations had not passed, their descendants still could not participate in the imperial examinations.
However, entering the county office's private school allowed one to be recomnded by the County Magistrate to participate in the County Examination, skipping this restriction.
It could also be considered a small privilege given by the imperial court to local officials, making it convenient for them to win people's hearts.
If Chu Xun could be promoted to Secondary Guest, the benefits would be nurous, which naturally counted as good news.
It was just that Zhang Anxiu, carrying the small dicine bottle in her pocket, felt very guilty and said, "Then you guys eat first, I'll go to the woodshed to get you so more dishes to go with the wine."
"No need, no need, there's already enough," Li Guangmao stood up and shouted, but Zhang Anxiu acted as if she didn't hear him and hurriedly entered the woodshed.
Chu Xun smiled and said, "Don't worry about it, let's eat first."
Entering the woodshed, Zhang Anxiu picked up a kitchen knife, wanting to chop sothing, but was absent-minded.
Finally, unable to hold back, she took out the small dicine bottle, poured out a grayish-brown pill that looked like a mud lump, frowned, and gritted her teeth.
In the end, she hardened her heart, raised her hand, and put it into her mouth.
It had no taste, feeling pretty much like eating dirt, making her unable to help but think, "Could it really be rolled out of mud?"
After eating and drinking his fill, Li Shoutian's face was glowing red. Drunk, he put his arm around Chu Xun's neck, "Among the young n in our village, you are the most pleasing to my eyes! In the future, you must take over this position of Village Chief. I won't give it to anyone else who wants it, you hear ?"
Li Guangmao was drinking so much his tongue was a bit thick, "Dad, what about ?"
"You?" Li Shoutian wiped his face, "You just follow Ah Xun and learn a tiny bit, and our family won't suffer losses for generations."
Li Guangmao chuckled and also ca over to hug Chu Xun's arm, "From now on, you are my biological older brother! Co, drink another bowl with your brother!"
The father and son were both incredibly drunk, yet they still supported each other and wouldn't let anyone see them off.
Not walking far, Li Shoutian let out a "blegh" and vomited until the sky was dark and the earth was dim.
Zhang Anxiu asked with so concern, "Is the Village Chief alright? He's not a young lad anymore, yet he still drinks so much."
It had been over ten years since Zhang Shigen entrusted her to Chu Xun.
Li Shoutian had grown from a middle-aged man into an old man, and was indeed not as energetic as before.
"I heard Li Erdan went to participate in the Provincial Examination. I wonder if he can pass and co back as a Provincial Graduate," Zhang Anxiu said.
Erdan was a milk na; his original na was Li Chang'an. He was Li Tianjian's youngest grandson, having just turned thirteen.
He had been smart since childhood, recognizing characters at three, and already understanding many principles at eight or nine. He was a famous child prodigy in the surrounding dozens of miles.
Li Tianjian's family raised over a hundred taels of silver and bought him the title of Imperial College Student.
Although the Provincial Examination had just begun, the family had already been showing off in the village for many days.
Especially when passing by Chu Xun's house, Li Tianjian's wife would always deliberately shout, "Chu Xun, my grandson is participating in the Provincial Examination in a few days. What do you think we should do if he really becos a Provincial Graduate? At such a young age, I can't bear to let him go out and be an official."
Chu Xun would always laugh despite himself upon hearing this. Not to ntion that passing the provincial exam had a very high difficulty, even if he really passed, he might not be able to beco an official imdiately.
Tang Shijun had told him that the world was full of talents.
Even many tropolitan Graduates were waiting at the Ministry of Personnel. Only when there was a vacancy sowhere would they hurriedly spend silver and use connections, even if it was just to be an eighth-rank County Defender.
So tropolitan Graduates had already waited for four or five years and still hadn't obtained an official position.
As the Second Place Graduate, he was only able to beco an official that sa year because he was personally appointed by His Majesty.
It was just that he was intercepted midway by the people from the Ministry of Personnel and sent to this bird-forsaken Zhangnan County.
[End of Chapter]
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