Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 14 Come here because of fame
The Zhang family’s front door was bustling with activity.

Whether it is the villagers or ordinary people from the surrounding areas who heard the news, they all want to see the protagonist of the biggest news in Xingji in recent years.

Shopkeeper Qin and Wang Ji arrived at the entrance of the village. Surrounded by a group of followers, they slowly moved forward along with the crowd of onlookers.

Because the roads in the village were too crowded, the two men did not arrive at Zhang's door until the magistrate Song Qing and his party left, following the local gentry who came to congratulate them.

"It's full inside, go somewhere else."

The village head brought people to stop them.

It's not that the village doesn't want to take the opportunity to liven up the atmosphere, but they are afraid that there will be too many outsiders, which will not only disturb the peace and tranquility of the Zhang Mansion, but also bring the plague that is raging in the city. Obviously, the surging flow of people has far exceeded the village's carrying capacity.

Shopkeeper Qin said, "We are old friends of Mr. Zhang. We have something to ask you. Could you please let us know?"

The person next to the head of the village said in a mocking tone: "The door is right there, you can go in if you want. It's a bit late to come and recognize your relatives today... Our Mr. Zhang is no longer the same as before. Not everyone can see him if they want to."

No one knew Manager Qin, so they were not polite at all.

Manager Qin did not get angry, and said to Wang Ji beside him: "It seems that we are a little late. If we come earlier, we can not only meet Mr. Zhang himself, but also pay a visit to the county magistrate."

Wang Ji said: "We can't just go back home... We have come from a long way, so we have to visit." After saying that, he jumped off the horse and went straight to the door of Zhang's house without paying any attention to the strange looks from the people around him.

……

……

Inside Zhang's house.

The local prominent tycoons and wealthy people were surrounding Zhang Luan and praising him highly.

"Mr. Zhang is a man of noble character, but he is also a man of noble character. We have recommended Mr. Zhang to the county school as a filial and honest official. We will hold a banquet in the city in the future. Please come and join us."

Zhang Luan felt very uncomfortable after hearing this.

What he wanted was not recommendation from the gentry, but recommendation from the government.

Just as he was overwhelmed and was about to send the guest away, the voice of Qin's attendant came from the door: "Is this Mr. Zhang's house? Our boss has brought gifts and a famous scholar to visit. Please see Mr. Zhang."

It was nothing at first, but when Zhang Luan heard that the other party brought a gift, his eyes suddenly widened.

A group of people came to "congratulate" me, but it was just a plaque from the county government. I felt sad that I didn't pass the imperial examination, so why didn't anyone come to me with land deeds and house deeds to curry favor with me? At least a small gift should have been given, right?

Just as I was muttering to myself, the person delivering the gift arrived.

"Who is disturbing Mr. Zhang's pleasure? Mr. Zhang just came back from treating a patient, he won't do anything easily again." The gentleman who came to visit felt a little unhappy.

We had no intention of giving any gifts to Mr. Zhang. Who was so ignorant as to not follow the principle of mutual advancement and retreat that we had agreed upon and come to visit with gifts?

Are you trying to sabotage us on purpose?

When they saw the woman standing at the door, a middle-aged man who looked like a doctor, and two boxes carried by several people behind them, everyone immediately felt that the other party was of no ordinary background.

"It seems to be a merchant from Huizhou Prefecture."

"From Huizhou? This is quite a big commotion. It even alarmed the merchants from Huizhou. Mr. Zhang's fortune has turned."

"That's right. Merchants in Huizhou have always been generous, and today will be no exception!"

People around were talking a lot.

The door made way for Zhang Luan. Seeing that the person who came was the "God of Wealth" whom he had seen in the Sun family before, he could not help but be overjoyed. He hurried over and bowed to greet him: "Isn't this Mr. Qin? I am sorry for not welcoming you from afar... I am honored to have such a distinguished guest here. Please come in, please come in..."

Shopkeeper Qin bowed gracefully and said, "I heard that Mr. Zhang is famous for curing illnesses and saving lives, and I admire him so much that I came to visit him with gifts. Mr. Wang Ji is a famous doctor in Huizhou, a leader in the medical field, and he often sees dignitaries. It's a good opportunity for you to have some exchanges."

Wang Ji quickly stepped forward and saluted: "Student Wang Ji greets Mr. Zhang."

After all, Zhang Luan was older, so Wang Ji lowered himself in front of Zhang Luan to show respect.

Village head Zhang Bao failed to stop the group of shopkeeper Qin and his party. He was furious and came over to tease them, "Bringing a doctor to visit, are you trying to steal the Zhang family's secret recipe? This is our Xingji City's treasure. I advise you not to have such evil thoughts."

"Yes, yes, yes, you outsiders should stop making wishful thinking."

Originally everyone envied Zhang Luan for meeting a big money sponsor, but what followed was a territorial dispute.

Shopkeeper Qin quickly explained: "I don't mean that."

Zhang Luan didn't care about that. He smiled and said, "Since you are a famous doctor, please come in and sit down... My courtyard is shabby, I hope you won't mind."

As he spoke, Zhang Luan's eyes fell on the two boxes.

Shopkeeper Qin immediately had the box carried into the courtyard and opened in public.

One box contained cloth and the other contained Huizhou specialties. All the things that had been given to the Sun family before were in here, and there were more than last time.

Zhang Luan no longer had any objections. His face was full of smiles and he rubbed his hands unconsciously, looking like he was waiting for a good price.

He had his own secret recipe, and big customers immediately came to him to buy it, which was perfect for him... As for having one trick to make him successful, it was far less cost-effective than getting money directly from the Huizhou merchants.

……

……

Zhang Luan invited Manager Qin and Doctor Wang to come into the main hall.

The village head Zhang Bao hurriedly reminded: "Master Zhang, we must not lose our original intention and forget our principles for the sake of profit... They came here with gifts, obviously with other intentions."

"Don't be afraid." Zhang Luan said with a smile, "I know what I'm doing."

Zhang Yanling, who was watching nearby, probably understood what his father was thinking.

Originally, this secret recipe was something he made up from a book somewhere else. Zhang Luan was not sure whether this thing was known to outsiders, but now that it came from his mouth first, Zhang Luan thought it was his original creation.

There is no such thing as patents these days.

Once someone knew that he had used a certain method to treat acne, Zhang Luan was very worried that it would not be long before other people who had read the book would leak the secret.

The best thing is to cash out before the mystery is revealed.

Anyway, the government asked him to hand over the secret recipe. With the strength of the Zhang family, they cannot go against the government. Since it will be leaked sooner or later, they might as well make more money and cheat as many families as possible.

Zhang Yanling couldn't help but sigh inwardly, thinking that good things were sold as junk by his father.

But thinking that the most important task of the family right now is to get my stepfather to Beijing as soon as possible, so that my sister has the opportunity to run for the Crown Princess, and let everything develop according to the course of history, the Zhang family should no longer worry about the secret recipe.

Compared to becoming the uncle of the Emperor of Ming Dynasty, what is in front of me is not worth mentioning.

In the main hall.

As soon as the host and the guest sat down, Wang Ji couldn't wait to ask: "Mr. Zhang, is your medicine for external application or internal use? How do you treat the disease? What is the pharmacology you follow? How do you solve the problem of cold or heat in the patient's body after the disease? And..."

"cut!"

Village chief Zhang Bao made a hissing sound and said disdainfully: "You still say you are not here for the secret recipe for curing diseases?"

Wang Ji looked a little embarrassed when he heard this.

Shopkeeper Qin explained, "Mr. Wang is a famous doctor in Huizhou. He has traveled to many places and has a wide range of knowledge. He heard that there is a great talent in the world who can cure smallpox. He was so excited that he couldn't help but ask a few more questions to find out the medical principles and compare them with what he had learned in the past."

As the head of the village, Zhang Bao had a certain say in the local community. Hearing this, he said coldly, "Not to mention famous doctors, even among imperial doctors, I have never heard of anyone who can cure smallpox. You are not here to participate, you are here to steal my skills."

"Don't say that."

Zhang Luan seemed very open-minded. He raised his hand and said, "My prescription for curing diseases is simple to say, but it is actually found in Treatise on Febrile Diseases. The medicine is not used internally or externally, but is delivered directly into the human body through a goose feather tube, which pierces the human body with the pointed tip. Then, people who have been injected with the medicine will... not get sick again. Haha."

Zhang Luan didn't have much tricks. Besides telling others what the medicine was, he also explained the method and method of treating the disease.

This scared Wang Ji a lot.

"Treatise on Febrile Diseases? Is there... such a medical book?" Wang Ji was stunned for a moment, then frowned and asked, "It also wants to hurt people's skin? This... this..."

He turned his head to look at Shopkeeper Qin, probably asking, is the person in front of him a lunatic?

Zhang Bao and other people who didn't know much about medicine thought it was nothing. A scholar nearby asked, "When doctors give acupuncture, don't they also use silver needles? What's so strange about that?"

Wang Ji thought about it and it made sense. He looked at Zhang Luan and said, "Is that the acupuncture method?"

"Acupuncture?"

Zhang Luan shook his head. “I don’t open up the acupuncture points. I just deliver the medicine directly into the skin of the arm… ahem, it’s hard to explain in detail.”

If his son Zhang Yanling hadn't pointed his finger at him from behind, Zhang Luan would have uttered many more shocking words.

"Strange, strange."

Even with the Wang Ji family's generations of research in medicine, they were all intimidated by Zhang Luan.

The method used was indeed extraordinary. Wang Ji seemed to have found the reason why he could not cure smallpox, because even the method was different.

"Master Zhang, someone from the Wang family is here... to give us some money!"

"is it?"

When Zhang Luan heard this, he was so excited that he couldn't express it in words. He stood up and went out to greet them.

This time, no one accompanied me.

Because everyone knows that the Wang family has just had a smallpox outbreak. Even if the government now says that the Wang family mansion is no longer an epidemic area, who knows how the disease was spread?
What if the disease also follows the Wang family?

Zhang Luan went out and found that the crowd watching the excitement in and outside the yard had dispersed, obviously treating the Wang family as plague gods.

Zhang Luan glanced back and saw that the guests all had expressions of fear on their faces, as if they were trying to avoid him. He smiled and said, "I will go out and greet them by myself."

"Dad, I'll go with you."

Zhang Yanling was afraid that his father would say something wrong again, so he hurried to catch up.

Shopkeeper Qin's beautiful eyes fell on Zhang Yanling. In fact, after entering the yard, she had been paying attention to the reaction of this young boy.

Zhang Luan today was completely different from the shabby and downtrodden man he was that day at the Sun residence. Only Zhang Yanling's cleverness remained unchanged, including the little tricks Zhang Yanling had done behind Zhang Luan's back just now, which also caught her attention.

"I am willing to accompany you."

As if to show that he was not shy with Zhang Luan, Shopkeeper Qin took the initiative to suggest that he go together to meet the visitor from the Wang family.

Zhang Luan changed his greedy and shameless face and said with a smile: "No need, I have been with the Wang family for many days in the palace. If I was going to get sick, I would have caught it long ago. But you are different. You have not been vaccinated with my medicine. If you get sick, the medicine may not work. I can go out and greet you myself."

As he said this, he walked out of the house with brisk steps.

That liveliness seemed to make him more joyful than taking a concubine or having a child in old age.

(End of this chapter)