Chapter 39: Temple Fair

  On the twenty-first day of the twelfth lunar month, Su Huawen and Wang Shi took Su Tianran with them and left Pingyang Prefecture to return to Taiyuan. Su Tiancheng still insisted on his own opinion and did not follow them to Taiyuan. His relationship with Wang Shi and Su Tianran was still very tense. It's the same old saying: only when he can obtain an official title for himself will he truly have a place in the family.

  The night before he left, Su Huawen talked with him about many things, most of which were about the rise and fall of his family, and finally mentioned his marriage.

  Su Tiancheng was a bit flustered. His parents' orders, the matchmaker's words, he was already seventeen years old, and after the new year, he would be eighteen. At this age, not having spoken of the next marriage arrangement was actually a very embarrassing thing, but he really didn't want to blindly settle on a marriage without any reason, or even without having seen his partner.

  So, Su Tiancheng cleverly found a reason, implying that the imperial examination was about to begin, and with more than seven months of preparation time, he wanted to focus on reviewing his lessons seriously during this period, and did not want to be distracted by other things. As for the matter of marriage, it could be decided after the imperial examination.

  Su Huawen also thought it made sense, according to Su Tiancheng's identity, he was originally a younger son of a merchant family, and thinking that he could find an official's daughter was almost impossible. Although Su Tiancheng was a student, if he could pass the imperial examination and become a jinshi, things would be different, and maybe he could climb up to a big family.

  Su Tianhao and Su Tiannan's marriages were not satisfactory to Su Huawen. Although the other party was a wealthy family, they were all merchant families without a very prominent social status. They had to curry favor with others to get things done. Now that Su Tianhao was already a monitor in the Imperial Academy, it was a pity that he had already started a family. Thinking of continuing to find an official's daughter was impossible. No official's daughter would be willing to become the concubine of a monitor.

  After Su Hua Wen and others left, Su Tian Cheng let out a long sigh of relief.

  Although Su Huawen is his own father, he still has a bit of inadaptability, now it's okay.

  Pingyang Prefecture was already very lively, after all, the Spring Festival is approaching, and whether it's officials or ordinary people, they all attach great importance to the Spring Festival. To be strict, from the 20th of the twelfth lunar month to the 20th of the first lunar month, this one-month period is considered as the Spring Festival. During the Spring Festival, the management of government offices is also much more relaxed, unless it's a major incident such as murder, arson or treason, no one will go to the yamen to report anything, after all, everyone wants to celebrate the Spring Festival.

  Su Tiancheng and his team came with the intention of recruiting some talent, at least to establish a nursing team, but unfortunately encountered the Spring Festival, which made him somewhat amused. What was originally a festive holiday had delayed his own affairs.

  After the 20th of the twelfth lunar month, the most bustling place in Pingyang Prefecture was not the brothels or wine houses, nor was it the prefectural government office, but rather the City God Temple.

  The City God Temple has a certain origin. The city refers to the high wall built by digging earth, and the moat refers to the protective wall without anyone. The combination of the city and the moat forms the city pool, which protects people's safety and allows everyone to live peacefully. Therefore, the city god is slowly worshipped as a god by people, and on this basis, the City God Temple naturally appears.

  The Chenghuang Temple is a temple for the common people, and it is also the temple that is closest to the lives of the common people. It does not have as many rules as Buddhist temples or Taoist monasteries, although Taoism has incorporated the Chenghuang Temple into its own system, but this has not been recognized by the government or ordinary people.

  Every year during the Spring Festival, Chenghuang Temple is crowded with people. Outside the temple, there are many small business owners selling their own goods, including snacks, sugar gourds, rice cakes, rice wine, wontons, fried meat, and roasted meat. Inside the temple, a large number of people gather to worship and pray for a prosperous life in the coming year.

  It's just like this, the area around Chenghuang Temple is not as lively as it used to be. The government designated the temple fair location to be after Chenghuang Temple, and the situation has changed dramatically. The temple fair was originally a sacrificial ritual, but now it has become an economic activity, a market that takes place every month on the 9th day of the lunar calendar. At this time, merchants are extremely busy, rushing to occupy stalls around Chenghuang Temple to sell their goods.

  From December to January, this month is a time when businesses are even more eager to make a big profit.

  Su Tiancheng cannot miss going to the temple fair.

  Just after seeing off Su Huawen and others, Su Er'tong began whispering in Su Tiancheng's ear.

  "Master, the temple fair in the south of the city has already started. You must go and take a look. There are so many wonderful performances. Last year, I even saw someone walking on knives and climbing up a bamboo pole. It was really amazing! And there were people spitting out fire from their mouths. Perhaps they really have the blessing of the Bodhisattva."

  "What's wrong, Er Tong? These are all things that require a long time of training. If you had started training from a young age, you would still be able to do these movements now."

  "Young master, you're joking! I don't have such skills and I wouldn't dare do something like that."

  "Alright, I know. You just want to go to the temple fair, don't you? Let's get ready today and we'll go early tomorrow morning. But let me warn you first, it's okay to have fun at the temple fair, but don't get into any trouble!"

  He felt that Su Er Tiao was probably entering puberty, and after following him and doing some unconventional things, he had become a bit bolder. On the surface, he seemed honest and down-to-earth, but in reality, he was prone to acting impulsively.

  Following Su Tiancheng's habit, he didn't want to join in the excitement, he had been thinking about Su Jun all along. It had been over a month since he left, and he wondered what the situation was like now. Although there was help from the old man, it wasn't until the sweet potato seeds were transported to Pingyang Prefecture that he could finally feel at ease.

  Time flies, after the Spring Festival, it will be very busy, especially for corn and sweet potatoes, which need to be nursed, followed by transplanting. Only through this process can production be increased. According to current planting technology, it is estimated that planting corn directly will be a big joke, with how much harvest can be expected?

  There is another problem, nowadays there is no membrane, nor can it be produced, that thing only appeared in the late Qing Dynasty, and it will take hundreds of years, so don't think about thin film. However, straw and rice straw at this time can play a role in keeping warm, chopped straw and rice straw can keep warm, and after rotting, they can also become fertilizer. Of course, there is another way, that is to burn the straw and rice straw before sprouting sweet potatoes and cassava, and use the ash as fertilizer, which is not bad either.

  Su Tiancheng has great confidence that as long as his planting methods are truly grasped by the tenant farmers, pursuing high grain yields will not be a big problem.

  The biggest problem is still the issue of protecting food, bandits are rampant, they also have no food and are forced to do so, if we can't organize a strong armed force ourselves, who knows whether these foods can be kept.

  There are two paths to development. One is the benign path, which means that grain production has increased and stored grains are sufficient to help many people cope with disasters and stabilize their minds. As long as there is food to eat, no one will starve to death. China's peasants will not think of rebelling in such a situation. Gradually expanding the planting area, promoting sweet potatoes on a large scale, and enabling Shanxi, Shaanxi, Shandong, Henan and other places to cope with the impending disaster.

  Second is the malignant development path, that is to say, in the process of development, encountering too many insurmountable difficulties, it can only rely on force to maintain itself. This road is very difficult and full of unpredictable factors, but such a situation exists. A large amount of land was annexed, and the royal family was selfish, only thinking of their own interests, regardless of the lives of farmers. Some peasant uprising armies changed their nature in the process of development, also thinking of burning, killing and looting. Wherever they passed, it would become a wasteland.

  Thinking of these things, Su Tiancheng had a headache. There were too many things going on, everything seemed to be extremely urgent, but it was impossible to lay them all out at once, and they needed the right timing.

  Go for a stroll in the temple fair, relax a bit, maybe it's a good choice. The boat will naturally go straight to the bridgehead. Sometimes, don't think too much either. It seems like communism is achieved tomorrow, but actually, it's impossible.

  The twenty-second day of the twelfth lunar month.

  Before the fourth watch, Su Er Tong had gotten out of bed. Su Tian Cheng was not in such a hurry, slowly getting up, eating breakfast, and then leisurely setting off.

  Su Er Tong was anxious, but he also knew the rules. He followed behind Su Tian Cheng and slowly walked towards the temple fair.