Early that morning, Shi Zhongkui, who had been studying behind closed doors for three months, walked out of the bedroom dressed neatly and saw Yu Honggao waiting for him in the yard.

He hurriedly stepped forward and saluted, "Teacher, do you have any other instructions?"

Yu Honggao smiled and waved his hand, "Boqian devoted himself to studying for three months. I have learned from your articles every three days that I have seen that for you, the imperial examination is just a matter of luck."

Shi Zhongkui couldn't help but frown. What he said was very true, but he was also helpless.

There are many talented people who either don’t work hard enough or lack real talent and learning, but they just fall to luck.

Many people know the example of Tang Bohu, but Zhu Zhishan, who is as famous as Tang Bohu, was a scholar at the age of 18. He did not pass the exam until he was 33. After that, he failed the examination every time in 7 attempts.

Moreover, Zhu Zhishan was not a poor scholar from a low-income family. On the contrary, many people in his father's family had served as high-ranking officials in the Ming Dynasty, and he was from a real scholarly family.

There are also Wen Zhengming and Xu Zhenqing.

"Okay, don't think so much." Yu Honggao laughed, "As a teacher, I dare to bet that you will definitely pass the college entrance examination. Otherwise, if you study upright in Shuntian Mansion, you will definitely become the laughing stock of the scholars."

Shi Zhongkui laughed when he heard Shilin.

Because of the existence of Daxing Land and Liu Yuer, I have not had to worry about raising fish in rice fields all the time in the past three months.

But Land and Liu Yuer still reported every day.

Even the people in the farm, when the fish in the rice fields grew to the size of a palm in July, looked at themselves with fear and gratitude, and they could see that their move was not only beneficial to the farmers, but also to the gentry and landlords.

It’s a series of benefits.

Moreover, the places where rice can be grown in the north must have abundant water resources. The price of paddy fields around Gyeonggi Province has increased a bit, and anyone who has a paddy field at home will send a servant to inquire about it in three to five days.

It's a pity that the Yang family, which has already secured guarantees from the Duke of Xiu's Mansion and the people next door, and even has the technology to raise fish in rice fields, directly listed the ten acres of land as a restricted area.

You can only inquire about the information, no one can enter and see.

There is even news that officials and landowners who were not active in cleaning up the canal in the past will start rectifying the capital's water system as soon as the results come out.

The purpose is nothing more than to artificially create more paddy fields and stabilize the water supply near Gyeonggi.

With so much hope, if Xuezheng of Shuntian Prefecture really dared to deliberately ignore Shi Zhongkui's article on the premise that there was nothing wrong with it, then there would be more than one or two people scolding him.

After gaining confidence, Shi Zhongkui felt at ease.

After bidding farewell to Hong Gao and returning to his home in the capital to await the college examination three days later, Xue Pan came directly to his door as expected.

He took out a copy of the title deed to the Sanjin Mansion and placed it in front of him without saying anything. He also took a wooden box from the servant's hand with a smile.

Shi Zhongkui took the wooden box and opened it, and saw that it was filled with the Four Treasures of the Study. There was no need to think that it must have been given by Xue Baochai, otherwise Xue Pan would definitely tell him clearly.

For a girl who has always been cautious, giving the four treasures of the study is no different from giving a sachet.

After reading it, Shi Zhongkui put the wooden box away and said to Xue Pan with a smile, "Thank the person who gave me the gift, and say that I will not let the people who care about me down."

"No problem, as long as my brother understands," Xue Pan laughed loudly, pointing to the house deed on the table and said, "This is the third-level house left by a fifth-rank official of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who was allowed to be a soldier and returned to his hometown.

It is indeed a bit big, but Eunuch Xia took me to see it specially and said that there is nothing illegal about this house, so I can live here with peace of mind."

Only then did Shi Zhongkui feel relieved. The 5th-ranked courtyard in the capital was 100% filled with royal status, the 4th-ranked Duke, nobles, and high-ranking officials of third rank or above.

As for the third courtyard, it's hard to say. Some first-rank officials' homes are just like this. Some people who have lived in the capital for generations have courtyards that big, but the interior decoration and specifications are much different.

There are also some houses that have been confiscated due to crime, and most people are not willing to buy them, but if the emperor gives them to them, everyone will be happy to live in them.

"Where is the location and how much is the price?"

Xue Pan smiled proudly, looked around, and whispered, "Thanks to my brother, Eunuch Xia didn't know where he got the news that there are good saffron flowers in the south, and he actually asked his brother to be responsible for purchasing 5 kilograms of them every month.

Others can do this, and it is hard to buy even 1 jin, let alone 5 jin.

The younger brother pretended to be embarrassed. Unexpectedly, Eunuch Xia directly said that he knew that the younger brother had been looking for a house recently, so he took me to see this house.

The location is quite suitable, 5 miles west of the city and less than 2 miles away from Rongguo Mansion.

But the price was a lot higher. The eggless eunuch actually asked me for 30,000 taels of silver. But when I went home and thought about it carefully, the girl said that I should give her the money.

Brother, do you see it?"

Shi Zhongkui nodded, this money should not be given, but must be given, otherwise it would really not be a matter of money.

Fortunately, the saffron produced in space is better in quality than the dried flowers from the Western Regions.

Not to mention other things, it takes several months or even half a year to transport the goods from the Western Regions, while the goods here are sent to the south as soon as they come out.

The shopkeepers of the Xue family could tell the difference at a glance, and of course they only thought it was delivered all the way from the plateau by fast horse.

And it is indeed delivered by fast horse from the capital to Jinling.

Otherwise, anyone in Da Zhou who cultivates it on a large scale will not be able to escape the investigation of those who are interested.

Since the place of origin could not be found, interested people thought of sending it all the way on a fast horse, so they stopped thinking. Some people even thought that this thing might be the new business of the border general.

The output of 15 kilograms per month and 180 kilograms per year is not so impressive compared to the amount of at least 3,5 thousand kilograms shipped from the Western Regions every year.

Moreover, as soon as the dried flowers were delivered to Jinling, they were scattered and sent to Suzhou, Hangzhou and other places, and they were bought within three or two days.

After that, many squires ordered one or two taels every month, which suddenly made this kind of saffron very popular, but it only spread in a small circle.

That's why Xue Pan said that it would be difficult to buy even 1 catty, let alone 5 catties.

Even though the Ministry of Internal Affairs is the emperor's private treasury, in many cases the better things are less available.

The reason is very simple. In addition to the problem of corruption, the eunuchs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are not stupid. If they buy it this year but cannot buy it next year, it will be a big disaster.

Only products with large quantities, such as specially customized porcelain and silk, with mature technology and no need to worry about being manufactured, can the Ministry of Internal Affairs dare to buy them conscientiously, and do so in a variety of ways to raise the price.

In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there was an example of selling an egg for one tael of silver, but you would be wrong to say that the egg was not worth buying.

There was a case in Rongguo Mansion that a quail egg cost one tael of silver, let alone something used by the emperor.

Shi Zhongkui put away the land deed, thought for a moment and then said, "When you go back, tell Miss Bao that the dried flowers from the Western Regions will only be sold in Suzhou and Hangzhou from now on, and the items will be sent to Xunyang first, and then go south by boat."
Chapter completed!