Chapter Twenty-Three Some Necessary Matters

  Liu Zhongji was already very surprised.

  Su Tiancheng's change was too great, he simply couldn't believe it. When they were in the same school, Su Tiancheng was taciturn and rarely spoke. After class every day, he would go home directly and seldom participated in various gatherings. However, this guy's grades were not bad. Every year, Pingyang Prefecture could only admit 40 students, and Su Tiancheng actually managed to get into the top five, which was quite impressive.

  Having passed the prefectural examination, Su Tiancheng should be able to go to the Imperial Academy to study and prepare for the provincial examination.

  The students of Guozijian can be divided into four categories: jumon, gongmon, yinmon and limon.

  The status of the Jieguan is the highest, and they are all Juren who failed to pass the imperial examination. Generally, they did not study at Guozijian, but after being appointed, they went to Beijing or local areas to serve as small officials.

  Gongjian were excellent talents selected from all over the country, who entered Guozijian to study. Unfortunately, this kind of selection became a mere formality, and in the end, they were sorted by age, with some older people with little knowledge filling the ranks.

  The status of yinjian is the most noble, they are all sons of high-ranking officials above the third rank or sons of meritorious nobles.

  For example, those who spend the most money are all merchants or sons of commoners who buy their way into the Imperial Academy to study.

  Liu Zhongji thought that Su Tiancheng was knowledgeable, and if he could go to the Imperial Academy to study and become a model student, there would be no problem with the imperial examination next year. For some reason, Su Tiancheng did not go in the end.

  Su Tiancheng's elder brother Su Tianhao had little learning and barely passed the examination to become a child student, but he actually went to Guozijian and became an example monitor.

  Su Tianhao is the eldest son of the legitimate wife, while Su Tianding is born out of wedlock, that's the reason.

  Liu Zhongji also understood, but felt that Mr. Su was blind and had thrown his money into the water.

  He had never seen Su Tiancheng enter a brothel before, and today he was thinking of trying it out to see if Su Tiancheng had really changed. Unexpectedly, Su Tiancheng was so refreshing and could respond appropriately, but it was really surprising that after three days, they would meet again with a new attitude.

  Su Tiancheng had a different idea, he was concerned about how much silver would be spent coming to the brothel.

  "Brother Liu, such extravagance really makes me feel embarrassed."

  "Brother Su, don't say that. We're drinking and chatting, let's just enjoy ourselves. Last year during the provincial exam, some people looked down on Liu, thinking he was useless. But you gave him a lot of encouragement, Brother Su. This kindness, Liu will never forget."

  "Liu brother is a man of his word, generous and open-minded, with friends all over the world. It's better to obey than to show respect, I will definitely treat Liu brother to a few cups of wine."

  "This is just right, Liu has always admired Su's talent, today we will not leave until we are drunk."

  "Thank you so much, Brother Liu. I'm a newcomer to this place and don't know the rules here. If there's anything improper, please point it out."

  "Su brother is meticulous, to say that coming to this brothel, there are no rules, it just depends on whether you have silver, if you have silver, what you say is the rule, if you don't have silver, mom's words are the rule."

  "So that's how it is, I wonder how much silver will be spent on a trip to the brothel."

  Liu Zhongji was somewhat out of breath, he didn't expect Su Tiancheng to ask such a question, it was too cheap, but he still endured it. Perhaps Su Tiancheng had opened his eyes, and from now on, he often went to the brothel, knowing the price wasn't a bad thing.

  "It all depends on how you consume it. One hundred taels of silver is not a lot, three to five taels of silver is not a little. If you want to invite the top courtesan from the brothel, you definitely need tens of taels of silver. As for ordinary consumption, three to five taels of silver are enough."

  Seeing Su Tiancheng's face turn pale, Liu Zhongji misunderstood the meaning.

  "Haha, let's not talk about that anymore. The wine and dishes will be served soon, and the young lady will arrive too. Today we'll have a good time, Brother Su must let loose!"

  The wine and dishes came up quickly, there were not many dishes, probably the madam thought of it too, just two people, but the girl did not come for a long time, Liu Zhongji could not help but get impatient.

  A person's face is very important, from ancient times to the present, countless people have fought and even risked their lives over issues of face. Su Tiancheng knew the pros and cons of this, but he was even more aware that face and status are closely linked, and recklessly fighting for face without considering one's own strength is a foolish act.

  The madam's eyes are very poisonous and can grasp the details of regular customers, they fawn on those in power, naturally, all for the sake of making money.

  People who come to the brothel for entertainment are from all walks of life, and there are all kinds of people. If you recklessly throw a tantrum, you might encounter some big shot and end up losing out without even knowing what's going on.

  Every family's brothel has some background behind it.

  But Liu Zhongji was a shengyuan, and his father, also a petty official in the Pingyang Prefecture government office, would be equivalent to a deputy minister of organization after several hundred years. Such an identity is already not bad, so why did such a situation occur?

  "Brother Liu, let me toast you a glass, thank you for Brother Liu's warm hospitality."

  "Su brother, sorry about this, you see, the girl hasn't arrived even at this late hour."

  "Brother Liu, you mustn't think like that. We came here to have fun, not to get angry. If the girl doesn't come, it's no big deal, just relax."

  Liu Zhongji's capacity for liquor was clearly not up to par, and after downing two cups of wine, his face began to flush red. Su Tiancheng let out a soft sigh - with such a low tolerance for alcohol, coming to the brothel would be pointless.

  Liu Zhongji's words obviously started to become more numerous, this situation is indeed a manifestation of being unable to drink alcohol.

  "Brother Su, these are troubled times."

  "What's the point of saying this."

  Liu Zhongji's face turned even redder, and he involuntarily glanced around to see if anyone was eavesdropping.

  "The bandits are running amok! The leaders of the Shaanxi rebels, Gao Yingxiang and Wang Zishun, have fled to the area around Pingyang Prefecture and are causing chaos, making people's hearts tremble with fear. This Zhang Xianzhong from Shaanxi was originally a soldier in the Yan-Sui army, but he committed a crime and was flogged 100 times, which led him to rebel too... I just don't know what's wrong with Shaanxi, why are there so many bandits?"

  Su Tiancheng smiled secretly, he knew all about these situations. Take Li Zicheng for example, he used to be a postal soldier. Because Liu Mao, the Minister of Household Administration, submitted a memorial to the emperor suggesting that the postal system was too wasteful and should be abolished, Zhu Youjian approved the abolition of the postal system, causing Li Zicheng to lose his job, so he rebelled. Some people even said that Liu Mao had married a concubine, but his original wife used the postal system to quickly arrive in Beijing, ruining Liu Mao's good things, and out of personal anger, Liu Mao requested the abolition of the postal system.

  However, the people who eventually succeeded in rebelling, such as Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, were not actually peasants.

  Liu Zhongji said that the situation, ordinary people would not know about it. He knew because he mostly read the official gazette of the government office, his father was in Pingyang Prefecture and could see the gazette.

  "Su brother, you know about Yuan Chonghuan being killed, right?"

  Su Tiancheng narrowed his eyes, the case of Yuan Chonghuan being killed by Emperor Chongzhen was too complicated, most of it was blaming Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youjian, but there were also different opinions that Yuan Chonghuan deserved to be killed.

  It was only three months since Yuan Chonghuan was killed.

  "Always been at home, don't understand much, don't know how Brother Liu sees it."

  "Alas, there are many people who cry injustice for Yuan Chonghuan. This is a major matter within the imperial court, and I shouldn't speak rashly. Today, I've met Brother Su, and I'm thinking of dispelling my inner doubts."

  Liu Zhongji raised his wine glass and drank it all in one gulp. Without waiting for Su Tiangong to speak, he spoke again.

  "I heard that it was said that they were the party members of Wei Zhongxian, waiting for an opportunity to take revenge, which led to the emperor killing Yuan Chonghuan."

  Su Tiancheng suddenly thought of the evaluation of Yuan Chonghuan, which was a piece of information he had read: Yuan Chonghuan is a person with very high moral character, selfless and fearless, but his tragedy lies in his high moral character and clear conscience. When doing things, he considers himself to be for the country and for the public, without any scruples, even when doing wrong things, he is so righteous and confident, and also so calm and composed.

  In fact, there were many such ministers in the Ming Dynasty, which may also be one of the tragedies of the downfall of the Ming Dynasty.

  Since he has crossed over, Su Tiancheng needs to have his own views.

  "Oh, how does Brother Liu see it? I really haven't heard of it."

  "What opinion do I have? These are all big matters of the imperial court, not things we should be concerned with. Still, I admire Brother Su for wholeheartedly reading the classics and scriptures; he will surely pass the imperial examination next year."

  Su Tiancheng felt a bit disappointed, he didn't expect that Liu Zhongji was also very clever, and must have had an opinion on the matter of Yuan Chonghuan's death, but just wouldn't say it.

  A pot of wine was finished, but the girl still didn't come. Su Tiancheng felt a bit indignant and wanted to go out to reason with the madam. Wasn't this bullying?

  Liu Zhongji was already drunk, lying on the table, still muttering to himself.