Chapter 48 Earning Money Seriously

Pan Hong slapped away his outstretched hand and said, "I'll send it myself tomorrow."

But it soon became impossible. The village chief came to inform them, "Tomorrow at noon, the wheat harvest will begin in Dongerli. You and your son will all be conscripted. Don't be late."

He then called out the names of Pan Yue and Pan Yu and said, "The Second Battalion wants you to clean the stables. Hurry up, we will be there in a quarter of an hour."

Pan Yue and Pan Yu didn't dare to speak and just lowered their heads in agreement.

Pan Hong felt a pain in his heart when he saw his two sons who were so thin that they were almost unrecognizable. When he saw the headman looking at the rice, flour, grain and oil they had just bought with greed in his eyes, he knew that his future would be difficult.

Pan Hong didn't say much, and followed suit. After the others left, he shared the buns they bought between the two of them, "Eat more, you go first, I'll ask someone to help you later."

Pan Yue pushed the bun back and said, "Dad, we have all eaten. This is for you."

"I don't have a good appetite. I'll cook some porridge for you guys later. You guys can eat this."

Thinking of the money he had just retrieved, Pan Yue stopped refusing and took it and shared it with his brother.

Pan Yu listened to him, and when he saw his brother eating, he followed suit, "Dad, don't worry, we are used to sweeping the stable, so we don't need to ask anyone for help."

He didn't want his father to ask for help.

Pan Hong smiled and said, "Don't worry, your father won't be wronged. This is mutual help. They help us, and we will naturally help them in the future."

However, they had just arrived and were weak, so even if they had wanted to find allies, they did not have the capital to establish and maintain relationships.

Those people were very tight-fisted. The money sent by the second brother and the money lent to them was only enough for them to survive here. They had no extra capital to operate their business.

The one hundred taels from Yun'er could be said to have solved their urgent needs.

As soon as the two children left, Pan Hong put away the things he had bought and went out with a hundred coins in his pocket.

This village is called the Exile Village, but in fact it is not a village. They are exiled officials and their families who only live near the military camp and wait for orders.

Some people came here, got married and had children, and the number of people increased. More and more houses were built, and in the end, the guilty and the pardoned continued to live together, and over time it became a village.

Although it is called a village, it is much larger than ordinary villages and has a large population, almost like a town.

They depend on the military camp for survival and occupy a corner of the border town of Datong. There are many exile villages like this in other northern border towns.

The laws of this dynasty are very strict. If one person commits a crime, the whole family or even the entire clan will suffer. Some crimes will also implicate friends, so there are all kinds of people among those who are exiled.

Pan Hong has been here for three months, and although he can't say that he has thoroughly understood this area, he has at least gained a general understanding of it.

As a former imperial censor, Pan Hong had some vision in getting to know people. He came with money and quickly made friends. When he went out again, he was accompanied by two strong young men.

They walked arm in arm with Pan Hong towards the stable of the Second Battalion. "Don't worry, Brother Pan. We brothers may not have anything else, but we have enough strength. If you need this kind of rough work in the future, leave it to us."

Pan Hong smiled bitterly and said, "How can we trouble you all the time? We just arrived and are not used to the local climate. We still need to practice our skills well, otherwise it will be difficult to survive here."

"That's true. It's fine now. But after a while, when the autumn harvest starts, if we run into the Tartars from the north again, we will have to harvest and transport things to the front. If we are not healthy, it will be fatal."

When they arrived at the stable, the sun had already set in the sky, and the two brothers Pan Yue and Pan Yu were dragging a large bundle of hay over.

The grass weighed more than 100 kilograms. The two men were young and weak, so they pulled a rope together.

They said they were cleaning the stables, but they also had to chop hay to feed the horses, and then clean out the horse manure, dirty hay, etc.

The headman chose this time to come and notify them because he wanted to force them to work at night. Those who were less strong and slower might not be able to finish until daybreak.

Soon after daybreak, they would set out to harvest wheat in the fields.

In just a few days, even the strongest man will be exhausted to death.

If you want to escape from this kind of suffering, you either have to bribe the headman or find a bigger backer than the headman.

Pan Hong chose the third option.

He wants to change the head of the village.

With the help of the Jin brothers, the father and his two sons quickly finished the day's work at the stable, went back to sleep in the dark, and set out to harvest wheat the next day. They did not finish work until the afternoon. Pan Hong returned to the city from Dong Erli and then turned around to mail the letter himself.

He did not go through the private post office, but sent it through the post station.

He didn't know how much the people who were secretly watching him cared, but in order not to cause trouble for the People's Post Office, he decided to go through the post station. Others could send letters to him through the People's Post Office, and if he sent letters to others, he would also go through the People's Post Office. I'm afraid they would have an excuse to check the People's Post Office.

Datong is different from other places. It is a border town and the government acts more domineeringly.

After sending the letter, Pan Hong walked out of the post station and sighed, hoping that Yun'er could receive the letter safely.

Pan Hong didn't know that not many people were watching him anymore.

After all, he was just a minor censor. There were too many officials in the court who had offended Wang Zhen, and many of them were demoted or exiled. If the Jinyiwei were to keep an eye on each and every one of them, how could they keep track of them all?
The reason why I paid so much attention to this matter some time ago was because a Jinyiwei named Wang Yong disappeared in the capital.

He had been to the Pan family before he disappeared, so the Pan family was under close surveillance again.

But the focus was mainly on Pan Tao who had returned to Changzhou Prefecture. Pan Hong asked about it and confirmed that he was still serving in the army honestly in Datong and there was nothing unusual in the correspondence, so the Jinyiwei no longer cared.

However, the people who were staring at Pan Tao haven't left yet.

A secret sentry was sitting in the teahouse. He watched Pan Tao being escorted out the door with a smile on his face. He listened carefully to their conversation and wrote on a small piece of paper: "On the fourth day of the first lunar month, Pan Tao met his friend Meng Chun. They agreed to teach at Jintai Academy on the eighth day of the first lunar month. The monthly salary is eight taels of silver."

The monthly salary of eight taels was higher than Pan Hong's monthly salary when he was an imperial censor, and Pan Tao's income as a teacher must be more than that.

The secret sentry recorded and shook his head. No wonder it was said that Pan Hong often needed his brother's support when he was an official.

Indeed, it was more than that. After returning home and drinking a sip of water, Pan Tao reported to his mother and wife, "A monthly salary of eight taels, two sets of seasonal clothes and shoes every season, and no shortage of festival gifts and cakes. Most importantly, the academy does not restrict teachers from teaching contemporary literature."

Contemporary writing is the most difficult subject for students to master. In order to teach students, some teachers not only let them write, but also write their own works and let them imitate.

Therefore, good contemporary writings are of great value. Sometimes a good article is worth as much as a gentleman’s annual salary.

In the past, Pan Hong often wrote contemporary essays in the name of his brother and sold them to make some extra money.

Pan Tao's contemporary writings were not as good as Pan Hong's, and could not be sold at such a high price, but the extra income was also high. With this income, plus the production from the fields, the family's life soon recovered.

Old Madam Pan breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Send a small amount of money to your brother first, and save the rest. When the weather is better next year, let Changsheng go and take a look in person."

Pan Tao also planned so. It was not a good idea to always send silver bills and bills of exchange through the post station. Only about one-third of them reached his brother each time.

My brother wasn't much better off, but instead he whetted those people's appetites.

Pan Tao glanced at his wife, then stepped forward to help Old Lady Pan, "Mom, let me help you go back to your room to rest."

Old Mrs. Pan wanted to say that she was not tired, but when Pan Tao pressed her arm, she obediently followed him.

Pan Tao whispered to her, "Mom, I received news today that Yun'er is safe and sound."

Mrs. Pan's eyes lit up and she grabbed his arm tightly. "Where is she now?"

Pan Tao shook his head. "My friend was just delivering a message for someone else. He refused to say more. He just said that if the other party was interested in contacting me, he would contact me. I thought about Yun'er's difference, so I didn't ask more questions. But from her voice, she is safe now and has companions with her.

After a few years when the storm has died down, she will probably contact us.”

Old Mrs. Pan sighed deeply, "Okay. I said before that this child has a miraculous mind, she was different from the moment she was born. Look at our four children, the other three cried all the time when they were young, but she slept when she was full, ate when she woke up, and even hummed twice when she peed, she is very well behaved.

Sure enough, she has supernatural powers."

Pan Tao: "...Really? I remember you always said that this child was silent and might be a fool."

Old Madam Pan glanced at him and said, "You remembered it wrongly."

Pan Tao laughed and said, "Yes, my son remembered it wrongly."

With the news that Pan Yun was safe, Old Mrs. Pan and Pan Tao put their worries aside and started to live and make money seriously in their hometown.

Pan Yun is also thinking seriously about making money.

Since that night, she never saw Mr. Pan again.

Pan Jun was a little uncomfortable with the fact that his master suddenly disappeared from his dreams.

She was a person who kept her promises. Since she had said she would build a temple for him, she naturally had to start preparing seriously.

　The lucky number is the number ending in 6, as shown in the screenshot
　　
　
(End of this chapter)