Han Xiufeng nodded and took over the conversation: "However, how difficult is the road to the imperial examination!" That Xiucai failed to succeed repeatedly, and it was difficult to support his family by teaching, so with the help of a year in the same year, he concealed his background and became a scribe in the Yamen of Eastern Sichuan Province. There was a mountain of official documents to be copied every day, and he was too old and physically weak to complete, so he remembered my uncle. My uncle not only worked hard, but also could write beautifully, at first he helped idlemen, and then he was recommended by his colleagues to become the workshop manager of the county government of Ba County.

The scribe is not an official, he has no money, and he has no money, and he even has to bring his own paper, pencil and candle required to copy official documents, but the yamen has bad rules, as long as there is a lawsuit, there are paper and pen fees, registration fees, summons fees, purchase and approval fees, ticket issuance fees, case arrival fees, shop fees, survey fees, case closure fees, and interest fees...... Although he is not as majestic as an official, my uncle has also placed a family business in the years of being a scribe. ”

"There is Yan Ruyu in the book, and there is a golden house in the book, isn't that what I said." Although the shopkeeper Pan is a creditor, he admires Han Yucai, who is a self-made man in his heart.

Han Xiufeng was silent for a moment, then suddenly turned around and asked, "Uncle Guan, Uncle Pan, do you two know why my uncle didn't build a house in the countryside back then, but came to buy this yard?" ”

"Why?" Guan Zhutou asked curiously.

"My uncle is a thousand miles away, and he often says that firewood in the countryside is cheap, but he is afraid that his children and grandchildren will be stupid. I am worried that if I settle my home in the countryside, my children and grandchildren will not be able to live for a long time. He also said that one day, if the descendants of my Han family can compete for the examination of people, Zhongjinshi, and Hanlin, they will not only have to go back to their hometowns to build a big mansion but also build a big ancestral hall! ”

"Brother Yucai really has ambitions for thousands of miles, it's really a great ambition to die before he is paid, sorry, sorry!" can hear that the words of the shopkeeper Pan are from the bottom of his heart.

Han Xiufeng pointed to a pair of words in the hall again, and said solemnly: "Yongda Zong Yuanxian article, mountain forest Yuxiu Shi Zexiang; Learn to continue Si Jianhui, and ascend to the cloud family Guochang in the middle class; In fact, this is not a subcouplet, but the character of Cangxi Han. My Han family's ancestors have been tenants for generations, and I don't know a single word in Douda, and the name of Tian Ding was taken indiscriminately, a cat and a dog, a big baby and two babies, what do you think of what to call.

My uncle once went to Cangxi with the eldest master on an errand, and saw that there was a Han clan ancestral hall, and saw this row of words for hundreds of years, such as getting the treasure, he immediately changed his name to Yucai, and my three brothers and I became Xiuzi, and even my father changed his name to Han Yugui. Some people may laugh at him for recognizing his ancestors, but I know that he wants to add some heritage to my Han family and make my Han family a scholarly family. ”

Thinking that Han Yucai later tossed a good family like this, Guan Zhutou couldn't help but scold: "His heart is higher than the sky, and his life is thinner than paper!" ”

Han Xiufeng said with a little apology as if he hadn't heard it: "My uncle has no children under his knees, and my three elder brothers are illiterate, so they can only pin their hopes on me. It's a pity that I didn't know anything when I was a child, I only knew how to play, and I didn't know his good intentions. Although I have studied for a few years and can recognize a few words, I have not been able to gain a fame. Think about it, I am ashamed of him, ashamed of my ancestors and ancestors. ”

"Four babies, don't blame yourself, how can your fame be so easy to test, besides, you are already very hard-working." Guan Zhutou patted him on the arm, his eyes full of love.

"Compared to my uncle, I don't work hard enough." Han Xiufeng sat back in his place, took out an official document stamped with the official seal from the box like a trick, and carefully put it in front of everyone: "Just now Uncle Pan asked me how I couldn't save money when I had been in the yamen for so many years?" Uncle Pan is right, after working in the yamen for so many years, if I can't save a few hundred taels, I, Han Si, will be even more ashamed of my uncle. ”

"This is the license of the donor, you donated!" Pan Changsheng recognized a few words, and was dumbfounded when he looked at the official document.

"Yes, but these dozens of taels are not officials, but just the background of a prisoner." Han Xiufeng took out a household license from the box again, and said slowly: "This is, this is the nine-product alternate inspection that I donated to my self-supporting children in the twenty-ninth year of Daoguang." I don't have the ability to get famous, so I can only donate an official, which can be regarded as fighting for my Han family. It is precisely because of the donation of an official body that to this day I am still just a helper. ”

"Shopkeeper Pan, don't hide it, I only found out about this today." Guan Zhutou was afraid that the house deed and the household license of the donation supervisor would be blown away by the wind, so he carefully put it back into the box, looked up and said: "Last year, the often lame man in the household returned to his hometown, and there was a vacancy, and the lack was only fifty taels!" It is better to do the scriptures in the book than to help the idle Qingshu, I asked the four children if the money is enough, if it is not enough, do you want to help make up, but he just didn't have this shortage, I also lost my temper for this matter, I never thought that he had already helped his self-sufficiency to donate the official. ”

"What do you mean by lack of bottom?" Pan Changsheng asked curiously.

The shopkeeper Pan explained: "There is a fixed number of registered scribes in the six rooms of the county government, one radish and one pit, who will give up the shortage if you don't give money." ”

Pan Changsheng thought for a while, then turned around and asked, "Han Si, since there is a shortage in the yamen, you can't afford it, why don't you take this shortage?" ”

"No one with merit or fame can be a scribe, let alone an official." Han Xiufeng didn't want to explain the rules in the yamen to him anymore, so he returned to the topic of repaying debts: "Shopkeeper Pan, you dared to lend two thousand taels to my uncle at that time, because you believed that my uncle would be able to earn back this silver by being hired by Bishan Zhengtang as the old master of Qiangu." It's a pity that my uncle was unlucky and ran into a short-lived county master. But your silver has not been wasted, although my uncle is gone, but the Han family still has me, you said that if I can make up for the lack of inspection, how much silver can I earn in a year, can you help my uncle repay the borrowed silver with interest? ”

Shopkeeper Pan has always been very envious of being an official, and he sighed in a heart: "Thousands of miles of officials are only for money, not to mention the 100,000 snowflakes and silver of the Qing Governor's Mansion in three years, as far as our Ba County main hall is concerned, there are 30,000 a year if we are not greedy or abused!" Although the inspection is only nine products, although it is not as noble as the officials of the state and county in terms of the system, if it can make up for the shortage, these two thousand taels are really not a matter for the virtuous nephew. ”

Han Xiufeng patted the wooden box and said with a smile: "Uncle Pan, I plan to go to the capital to confess and participate in the election of officials in a while, can you give me a few years, allow me to fill the gap, become an official, make money, and then help my uncle pay back your silver with interest?" ”

"It's easy to donate officials to fill the vacancies, virtuous nephew, you have to let me think about it."

"Don't worry, you think slowly, in short, if I don't go to the ministry to confess, don't go to fill the vacancy and become an official, and rely on the yamen to help idle, my uncle owes you the money I'm afraid our whole family won't be able to pay it back in this life."

Pan Changsheng never thought that Han Si, who was usually inconspicuous, would quietly donate his background and donate an official, glanced enviously at the wooden box containing the household license, and muttered: "A prisoner is only forty-five taels, and a nine-grade inspection is less than two hundred taels, and I can afford to donate this official." ”

Han Xiufeng looked back at him and said meaningfully: "Brother Pan, you are rich and wealthy, not to mention a nine-grade inspection, even if your family can afford to donate a four-grade Daotai." However, if you want to donate the background of a prisoner and a nine-grade alternate inspection, two or three hundred taels may not be enough, and two or three thousand taels is about the same. ”