Great Song Dynasty Writer

Chapter 113 I Want to Go to the Fourth Floor

Under the eaves, Li Pan did not deliberately avoid people; he asked.

"Are you adjusting well to studying at Luzhou State University?"

Lu Beigu replied, "I know some people, and with my heavy academic workload, I don't feel uncomfortable at all."

"That's good."

Li Pan nodded slightly. He was just being polite and didn't care much about whether Lu Beigu was really adapting. He then got straight to the point.

"I heard that the imperial edict is coming down soon. It is a foregone conclusion that Minister Zhang will be reappointed as the Minister of Finance to oversee the finances. Minister Fan will be promoted to the position of Acting Deputy Transport Commissioner to be in charge of the salt administration. However, Minister Zhang has a lot of affairs to attend to and it is estimated that he will not be able to go to the capital to take up his post until autumn. Minister Fan submitted a memorial to the court and it was approved. After stepping down as the Prefect of Huazhou, he was allowed to go south to Sichuan to discuss the salt administration reform with Minister Zhang in detail."

Lu Beigu didn't react after hearing this. It was a historical inevitability that Zhang Fangping and Fan Xiang would take over the financial work of the Song Dynasty as partners, because at this time, among all the technocrats in the country, only the two of them could stabilize such a complex and terrible financial situation.

"At that time, Fan Jin Gong will also come to Luzhou in person to check on the situation of Yujing Saltworks. After all, Yujing Saltworks is the most important salt-producing area in the entire Sichuan province. No matter how the salt law is changed, it cannot bypass this route. He will definitely come to Luchuan County. He specifically asked to see you, so be prepared."

Lu Beigu became wary.

As the saying goes, if you know there are tigers in the mountains, then don't go into those mountains you know are dangerous.

In recent years, the Liao people of Yujingjian have been rebelling every now and then under the instigation of the Wuman people in the south. It is obviously a powder keg, and he would not go to that place for no reason.

So Lu Beigu tentatively asked, "Does that mean I need to discuss the salt administration matters with Master Fan in person?"

"I do not know."

Li Pan shook his head. The letter Zhang Fangping sent him through the post station only briefly explained the situation. He wasn't Zhang Fangping's confidant, so he couldn't possibly tell him anything more detailed.

"The roads to Shu are difficult to travel. If Fan Jin Gong wants to go south by land, he will pass through Hanzhong, go to Chengdu first, and then follow the Yangtze River to Luzhou. He will not arrive in Luchuan County until the end of August. By then, you will definitely have finished the state examination. It will not delay your examination."

“Students understand.”

After exchanging a few words, Li Pan patted him on the back and then left the state school.

Lu Beigu took a few quick steps forward and caught up with his three roommates who were waiting for him ahead.

"Brother Lu."

Lu Guangyu asked curiously, "What did Lingjun say to you?"

Although the question was a bit probing, he was, after all, a good friend, and young people of this age just can't keep things to themselves. Students shouldn't be too calculating, so Lu Beigu didn't mind.

However, it was not appropriate to disclose matters of state such as the reform of the salt law, which had not yet occurred. Lu Beigu simply said that Li Pan had come to the prefectural school with the prefect today for inspection, and then pulled him aside to ask about the daily situation and inquire about the students who came from the county school of Hejiang County.

Upon hearing this, Lu Guangyu, Huang Jingji, and Zhu Zhen naturally felt quite warm inside, knowing that although Li Pan hadn't been their local official for long, he still cared about them even after being promoted to judge.
Upon arriving at the dining hall in the three-courtyard compound, they were still only allowed to use the private dining hall for the lower quarters, and they still ate two vegetarian dishes and a soup for lunch, without getting any meat at all.

But since it was a free lunch, no one complained.

—Except for Zhu Nanxing.

"I'm really starving to death."

Zhu Nanxing finished his portion and looked longingly at his friends.

Lu Beigu glanced down at the food on his plate. It was indeed a difficult meal for a fat person like him: a plate of stir-fried winter lettuce, a plate of tofu stewed with cabbage, and a bowl of wild vegetable and egg drop soup with barely any egg. It was a standard diet meal. Winter lettuce could be stir-fried well with vegetable oil and a little salt, but the cook hadn't added any oil or salt. As for the tofu stewed with cabbage, well, it was basically what we now call cabbage stewed with tofu. Actually, adding some dried shrimp as a garnish would have made it much tastier, and a few shredded ham would have made it even better, but unfortunately, there was nothing there.

"Bear with it, Brother Zhu, consider it a way to lose belly fat," Huang Jingji advised.

Zhu Zhen, who was thin and frail, ate very attentively, as if the food he ate at the prefectural school's dining hall was better than what he ate at home.

"No way! I can't stand it!"

Zhu Nanxing's eyes seemed to be spitting fire: "You have no idea how I've survived these past few days! I've been waking up hungry every night! I'm going to do everything I can to get into the middle dormitory in this dormitory assignment exam!"

"Is it because the dining hall in the middle dormitory serves meat dishes?"

“Yes!” Zhu Nanxing nodded emphatically. “Moreover, my roommate told me that the chefs in different canteens are completely different! I can’t stand the food in my dorm anymore.”

Afterwards, despite his hunger, he tidied up the bowls and plates on the plate and left quickly, presumably to go back and study hard.

Watching his retreating figure, Lu Guangyu said thoughtfully, "I feel like this is also a way for the state school to motivate us to get into the central dormitory."

"I think you're right."

Lu Beigu said with certainty.

In reality, aside from the food, students in the lower-class dormitories are not entitled to take hot showers at all. Anyone who has experienced it knows how torturous it is to live in the sticky, hot summer weather in Sichuan.

After finishing his meal, despite the sticky feeling of his clothes clinging to his body, Lu Beigu's determination to get into the middle dormitory grew even stronger.

Afterwards, he took a nap with his three roommates, and after waking up, he began to organize the notes he had taken in the library.

This trip to the third floor of the library was extremely fruitful. After digesting all the contents of his notes, Lu Beigu vaguely felt that the bottleneck he had encountered in his previous extensive study of the classics without understanding them seemed to be just a little short of being able to break through.

For students in the upper dormitory of the state academy, doing practice questions in the library is no longer effective because they have spent enough time there and done enough questions. However, it is quite different for students in the lower dormitory who have hardly done any past exam questions.

"Twelve hours of practice problems is far from enough!"

After finishing his afternoon classes and planning his time according to the schedule, Lu Beigu went to the main hall and asked the teacher in charge of teaching for the next two days for leave.

He then rested well for the night, and the next day before dawn, he got up, took a few steamed buns, and went to the library.

This time, he'll be working on it for thirty-six hours straight!

Inside the library, the clerk in charge was somewhat surprised to see Lu Beigu return after only one day.

After all, it's rare to find someone in the state academy who can endure the brightness of a gourd lamp and study all night. The reason why the library could still be used for studying at night without fear of fire is because the lighting used at night was not candles, but fixed gourd lamps.

This gourd-shaped lamp, filled with lamp oil, is heavy at the bottom and light at the top, so the lamp opening always faces upwards, like a roly-poly toy. Even if it is bumped, the lamp oil inside will not spill out, and the flame will always remain upwards and will not tip over.

The downside of this thing is that it's very dim, but the upside is that it's very safe.

"I want to go to the fourth floor."

Lu Beigu's words were concise and to the point.

(End of this chapter)