Section 3: I am Kong Zhongbai, Meng Xiang, and I have read extensively in poetry and books!

  What is fighting for water? It's just a fight, whoever has the bigger fist gets more water, especially when spring rain is not as smooth as oil. At the time of spring plowing, no water means no harvest.

  It's quite complicated, in the village, among neighbors, there are probably many things like gossip and rumors.

  Bai Minghe sat on the edge of the kang, deep in thought. Sun Yuangui was there sorting out Bai Minghe's luggage and also taking the opportunity to tidy up Bai Minghe's belongings. After all, going to take the imperial examination was an expensive affair. Once they arrived at the capital city, whether it was eating or lodging, everything was much more expensive than in ordinary places.

  "How much money do I have?" Bai Minghe asked casually.

  "Two taels of silver and eight hundred strings of cash!" Sun Yuanjun's words made Bai Minghe's eyes light up, but the next sentence made Bai Minghe unresponsive. Sun Yuanjun continued: "I don't know how much longer this treasure note can be used. When I was ten years old, one hundred strings of treasure notes could buy a stone of rice, now four hundred strings of treasure notes can only buy a stone of rice. I'm afraid it won't be long before one string of treasure notes is worth only one coin."

  Baochao is the paper currency of the Ming Dynasty. This feels like some small South American country, where a few hundred million yuan in cash can buy just one loaf of bread.

  After packing up Bai Minghe's luggage, she also sorted out the gifts sent by the Lu family, including seven feet of cloth, some thread, and a small wooden box containing something that Sun Yuankui didn't recognize. When handed to Bai Minghe, he sniffed it and found that this thing weighing less than half a tael was likely snowflake.

  "This is a precious item, and the Lu family doesn't know where it came from. It's called Snow Ha!"

  "Sun Yuanchun's name isn't just called out for nothing, the book naturally has an introduction to this thing. After thinking about it, he said: 'It seems that it was a reward given by the Lu family themselves, looking at the year it was made, it's not recent, I'm afraid they couldn't bear to use it, so they gave it to you, sir, as a gift.'"

  Having said that, Sun Yuankun took out a set of long shirts from his luggage: "It's still early today, with your identity as a holder, you can borrow grain from the rich even if you don't go to borrow official grain. But remember, do not accept land from the rich, it is better not to borrow than to take land!"

  After Sun Yuanjun explained, Bai Minghe understood that as a holder of the imperial examination degree, he was exempt from taxation. Here, it is absolutely impossible to collect land from wealthy households in the name of a holder of the imperial examination degree, because this is not Bai Minghe's hometown and he cannot stay here for long.

  According to Sun Yuanjun's explanation, tax exemption is not unlimited either. As a holder of the title of "Juren", one can be exempt from taxes on twelve qing, which is equivalent to 1,200 mu of land. The Guanzhong Bai clan is not a small family, and this tax exemption also includes an exemption from labor service, so it must be used for the benefit of the family itself, and absolutely cannot be used as a transaction.

  This is also the reason why Sun Shu Gou didn't bring over the land deed.

  After all, this is the Sun family's home, not the Bai family's.

  Being able to borrow some rice to get through this crisis was already the greatest desire of the Sun family.

  Yesterday, a small tiger cub, half the size of a stone that hit Bai Minghe's head, pulled over a donkey and led it. He was both a guide and temporarily became Bai Minghe's little follower, this is Sun Shu Gong's intention, to atone for his sins.

  The Fang Garden is thirty miles around, and there are really four wealthy families.

  The richest is the Fan Yang Lu family, but it's said to be a truly thousand-year-old family. After Lu Zhi, during the prosperous Tang Dynasty, they were called the Eight Premier Family, with eight premiers emerging from the family. Over the years, even in the Ming Dynasty, among the descendants of the Lu family, there were numerous scholars, many successful candidates for the imperial examination, and over a dozen jinshi (the highest degree in the imperial examination system).

  Such a big family of white cranes is somewhat empty. A scholar in front of such a noble family, I guess will be treated to a bowl of leftover rice.

  The Hu family, a local landlord of moderate size, had produced a county magistrate and two scholars. When they heard that a successful candidate for the imperial examination was visiting their town, the master of the house personally went to the gate to welcome him in. It wouldn't be bad to make friends with a successful candidate.

  "Old Hu is well, I am Bai Minghe from Guanzhong, passing by here on my way to the capital for the imperial examination. Coincidentally, my wife's hometown is also here..." Bai Minghe explained his reason for coming in a calm and unhurried tone. The head of the Hu family, Hu Weishan, listened quietly without making a sound. When Bai Minghe finished speaking, Hu Weishan stood up and bowed with his fist.

  He bowed slightly, then spoke: "Bai Gongren speaks straightforwardly. I'll also speak plainly - if you want to borrow money, I'll give you 30 taels of silver immediately. Even if it's just a temporary loan for emergency use on the road, and you don't repay me, that's fine. But borrowing for Xiaquan Village? No way!"

  "Why?" Bai Minghe didn't understand.

  Hu Weishan didn't explain, but simply refused to lend. There was only one sentence: thirty taels were placed on the table, and Bai Minghe could take them if he wanted to. As a juren, Hu Weishan still didn't believe that Bai Minghe would come to cheat him out of thirty taels. Moreover, he also didn't believe that Bai Minghe would borrow in his own name and then give it to Xiaquan Village.

  Because of his reputation as a Confucian scholar, he couldn't bear to lose face, and his reputation was more important than his life.

  Face must be maintained, so Bai Minghe said some words of gratitude and expressed his intention to visit again another day. Hu Weishan also said he hoped that the two useless nephews in his household could listen to Bai Minghe's lectures on Buddhist scriptures.

  Out of the door, the cool breeze blew, and Bai Minghe let out two bitter laughs.

  In his heart, however, there was both joy and worry.

  Luckily, Jin Juren's words turned out to be true, and his face was indeed very valuable. What's worrying is whether Xiayuan Village has offended this Hu Lao Cai before, judging from Hu Lao Cai's hesitant expression, it seems that Xiayuan Village has offended many people.

  Okay, let's change to another one.

  After walking another twenty miles, they arrived at the Yan family's home. It was also a prominent surname, but compared to before, their family fortunes had declined somewhat. However, here they were still considered extremely wealthy. Bai Minghe was still treated with courtesy and invited into the house, while Sun Hu was arranged to stay in the woodshed and even provided with hot food, which could be considered courteous treatment.

  The Yan family has more than ten times the influence of the Hu family in this area. There are now two magistrates and one county lieutenant alive in the family. Among the young people, there is also a candidate who will take the imperial examination today, but he has already gone to the capital one step ahead. There are still three students who are still studying hard for the exam.

  Inviting Bai Menghua into the central hall, two dishes were prepared, a small jug of wine to warm up, and a bowl of staple food.

  Bai Minghe ran for most of the day and was really hungry. After thanking them, he ate as politely as possible. Then, the host of the Yan family brought out tea, and they finally sat down in their proper seats.

  Bai Minghe said a few polite words, but still spoke the truth. Xiaquan Village wants to borrow grain, it's not borrowing for themselves.

  "I have three plans, upper, middle and lower. I wonder if you are interested in hearing them, Mr Bai?" The old man of the Yan family smiled at Bai Minghe.

  When Yan Lao saw him, Bai Minghe felt a chill in his heart. It wasn't that Yan Lao was lecherous, but rather a kind old man. Judging from his clothes, even Bai Minghe, who didn't understand history well, thought he was probably a scholar. However, Bai Minghe couldn't shake off the feeling of unease.

  The old swallow still kept a smile on his face, waiting for Bai Menghe's reaction.

  I came here to borrow grain, so I have to listen, even if it's a refusal.

  Bai Minghe stood up and bowed with his fists: "I wish to hear the elder's words, Bai Minghe will listen respectfully!"

  "Very well, Mr. Bai, please take a seat and listen to my three plans!" Old Yan also stood up and returned the courtesy.

  The old swallow looked at Bai Menghe and spoke up.

  "This is the plan, I'll take out two or three dan of rice and give it to Bai Juren, just to get rid of this matter. It's a face-saving solution for both parties, preserving Bai Juren's dignity while also cutting off the request to borrow grain from Xiaquan Village."

  After listening to Old Man Yan, Bai Minghe started scolding in his heart, what's the difference between this and sending someone away for food.

  Cursing in her heart, her face remained expressionless: "Please continue, Old Yan!"

  "Good!" Bai Minghe reacted calmly, and Old Yan seemed unsurprised, continuing with a smile: "Use the books stored in your wife's family to exchange, your late father-in-law was indeed a recluse, his collection of books, his manuscripts, are enough to be worth 500 stones of grain."

  Is this taking advantage of the fire to loot? Bai Minghe's face finally showed some anger.

  "Please continue, Old Yan!"

  Yan's face still maintained a smile, and Bai Minghe didn't jump up and scold him, his ability to hold back his temper had improved greatly.

  "The best plan is, there are many women in our clan who are twenty-eight years old, choose one of them to be your concubine!"

  "You, you, you……" Bai Minghe said three "you"s in a row, and was truly enraged. Yan Lao's actions were no longer just taking advantage of the situation, but rather an outright attempt to harm himself. Taking a concubine sounded like giving someone to himself, but in reality, his half-official identity was already tied to the Yan family.

  "Am I troubling you?" Yan Lao asked, still expressionless.

  Bai Minghe was furious and loudly shouted: "This is not making things difficult, what is this?"

  "Are you here to borrow grain, or is it to make things difficult for me?" Yan Lao's voice also rose a bit, and with this rhetorical question, Bai Minghe suddenly felt a chill rising from the bottom of his heart. His first reaction was that something must have happened in Xiaquan Village.

  At this time, Bai Minghe asked in a barely audible voice that was almost trembling: "May I ask, what has Xiaquan Village done to offend the heavens and anger the people?"

  "Mr. Bai, please leave!" The old man Yan surprisingly showed a gesture of sending off a guest.

  Bai Minghe sat down with a plop: "I won't leave, even if you don't lend me grain. You have to give me a reason, I want to know why? Every time I hear that the villagers of Xiaquan Village react like this, I always want to know the reason. If they are wrong, shouldn't there be an opportunity for them to correct it?"

  "No one is wrong, it's all for survival. I'll tell you another thing, the fire at the warehouse in Longmu Village was actually set by someone with malicious intent. The arsonist will be dealt with by the authorities, but this disaster originated from Xiaquan Village nonetheless. I can lend grain to you, but not to Xiaquan Village; if I do, I won't be tolerated in these 28 villages within seven miles."

  Seven miles and twenty-eight villages.

  This statement really scared the white crane, here said seven li, but it's not a distance, according to the calculation method of the Great Ming, 110 households are one li, two villages with more people are one li, and three or four villages with fewer people are one li. The lower spring village side is four villages in one li, with a population of around 130 households.

  In these seven miles, there are at least 800 households, which is a scale of 4,000 to 5,000 people.

  What has Xiaquan Village done to offend so many people, and yet there are still those who dare to commit arson by burning grain warehouses, risking the severe punishment of being exiled three thousand miles away.

  Bai Menghua was scared, there really is a kind of fearful feeling.

  "Please!" Old Yan saw off his guests once again.