No, gentlemen also guard against

Chapter 41

Ouyang Rong has received many letters recently.

There are classmates from the academy, former teachers, parents and officials in Nanlong in their hometown, and even the same year as the first year of Jiushi who was admitted to the university, and if I remember correctly, he and this same year are sitting next to each other at the Xingyuan Banquet After toasting each other with a glass of wine, I forgot what they looked like.

These old friends all sent letters to greet each other, reminisce about past friendships, and make appointments to get together in the future, and at the end, at the end of the letters, they would mention that they had a little friendship with a wealthy family in Longcheng County. Brother Lianghan, take care of me a little bit.

Is this reasonable?

This is reasonable.

Ouyang Rong put down the letter paper, smiled lightly, casually threw the stack of letters into the trash basket at his feet, got up and left the study.

The plum blossom forest outside the study is falling petals, which is very pleasing to the eye. The plum blossoms in Dragon City bloom late and wither late.

Ouyang Rong picked up a pale pink plum petal on his shoulder, carried a jug of wine, and went out humming "Hometown Song".

He was actually in a good mood, because he had never received any letters from his teacher Xie Xun and supervisor Shen Xisheng, and a few days ago, Ouyang Rong was already mentally prepared to receive letters from the two.

Ouyang Rong came to the government office, and not long after, he brought a large group of officials and servants to the suburbs of the city to see him off.

He ordered Qin Heng and other Zhechong Mansion soldiers to return to Jiangzhou Camp yesterday, and all the soldiers left today.

At the long pavilion ten miles south of the city, Ouyang Rong lowered his eyes and poured a glass of wine, beckoning to Captain Qin and other officers and men.

"General Qin, I don't have much literary talents, so I won't recite poems to be sensational. Everyone, go on your way, everyone has worked hard these days."

"The county magistrate is humble." Qin Heng shook his head.

"By the way, bring me another letter to Supervisor Shen."

Ouyang Rong took out a letter and handed it over, Qin Heng took it without asking.

After drinking the farewell wine, they folded willows to bid farewell.

The young captain of Zhechong Prefecture, Jiangzhou, who had just taken a few steps on his horse, suddenly turned his horse's head, and said to the young magistrate who was watching calmly in the pavilion behind:
"Ouyang county magistrate, the general... has always been puzzled by one thing. I saw you walking out of the warehouse with your head lifted that night, and the general will be able to tell... The county magistrate really wanted to take the brothers to ransack the house, but why later? Are you gone again?"

"General Qin also wants to raid the house?"

Qin Heng, who has always been quiet and capable, nodded without hesitation, "The evil gentry and bully in this kind of place can hardly relieve their hatred by copying a hundred houses a day, and death is not a pity."

"General Qin is a man of temperament."

"Isn't the magistrate of Ouyang County the same?"

"Then why didn't General Qin search the house?"

"I hate that there is no military order. But Ouyang county magistrate can, can order."

"It is possible to order, but I am not a general. I just need to lead the charge and draw my sword willfully." Ouyang Rong paused, and said seriously: "I am the magistrate of a county."

Qin Heng was silent for a while, raised his red horsewhip and pointed at the relief camps in the field, and said loudly:
"Magistrate of Ouyang County, the general will lead the soldiers out of Jiangzhou City at night, through Xingzi, Hukou, and Jishui counties. Along the way, your county is the one we have seen with the least hunger for refugees, the best disaster control, and the best handling of officials. The fast place... this order of a county, well done!"

"Ouyang county magistrate, there will be a period later!"

Qin Heng laughed, turned his head around and whipped his whip, rode his horse with three hundred armors, and left with three feet of smoke and dust.

Ouyang Rong was slightly startled, shook his head with a smile, and returned to the county government with the officials behind him.

……

"How many buckets?"

"Sixteen coins, my lord, this is the best tribute rice from Qianshan Mountain..."

Yan Liulang interrupted: "The other rice shops also have this price?"

"It's all at this price, no one can deceive you."

"Two fights."

"Okay, 32 yuan for your patronage."

At the rice shop in the downtown area, Yan Liulang paid for the bag of rice, turned around and returned.

Along the way, the blue-clothed policeman obviously felt that the inside and outside of the county town were much more lively and busy, and there was a lot of smoke and fire.

There are many sails on the Butterfly Creek, and there are many more foreign ships than in the past. The laborers who move goods at Penglangdu Wharf are busy and short of manpower. They need to increase their wages and recruit people from refugees outside the city.

Shops that had closed down in the past due to disasters in the east and west markets gradually reopened, and temples and courtyards were being renovated everywhere in the county, and the work was in full swing.

In the past few days, many official documents issued by a young county magistrate to promote business and industry, as well as the policy of vigorously promoting the Dragon Boat Festival, have become the most lively topics among wealthy households, civilians, and suburban refugees in Dragon City.

There are discussions in the streets and alleys. I heard that the county magistrate will give a speech at the Dragon Boat Festival in person, and will ask the county government to reward the winning dragon boat with real money and subsidize some active merchants.

In fact, the dragon boat races on the Dragon Boat Festival in previous years are also quite grand events, because the people in the land of Wuyue are also superstitious, and they regard the dragon boat races as a major event to pray for good weather in the coming year, so naturally they actively participate.

In addition, in the assessment of local county magistrates in general states, whether the county magistrate can change customs is also a standard, and previous county magistrates have to handle it.However, it is rare for a young county magistrate to do so vigorously, especially after the flood in Yunmengze, when the counties are struggling to deal with it.

So as soon as the news came out, Longcheng County became very conspicuous in the upper and lower valleys of the entire Jiangzhou boundary.

And Yan Liulang knew that this was just the beginning, and now all the merchants and wealthy households from the nearby counties came, and more tourists and wealthy merchants were still to come.

This is the advantage of developed water transportation. Only Jiangzhou is affected by the flood, but the surrounding states are all "rich and peaceful", and they can be reached by boat.

But the young county magistrate said that this is both good and bad, and the door must be locked... Yan Liulang was a little confused about this, but Ming Fu didn't elaborate, so he didn't ask.

Right now, as soon as Yan Liulang returned to the county government with the rice in hand, he ran into Ouyang Rong and others who had returned from outside the city.

"Mingfu, the price of rice in Dongshi..."

"Go in and talk."

"Yes."

When the two came to the back hall, Yan Liulang reported everything he observed all the way in the county town, including today's rice price, before his butt was seated on a stool.

"Only sixteen cents a bucket?"

Ouyang Rong took a sip of tea, and immediately put down his cup when he heard the words, very upset:
"It's so cheap, who do you look down on? People outside don't know, they think we Longcheng people can't afford rice."

The corner of Yan Liulang's mouth twitched, and he couldn't help saying:
"Mingfu, sixteen dollars a dou is already the same as grabbing. I didn't say anything about paying money to buy rice just now. The boss looked at me as happy as looking at a fool... This is the most basic rice price. Ah, even if it costs a penny per fight, it’s a big deal.”

Ouyang Rong rolled up his sleeves as if he didn't hear it, grabbed a handful of cold white rice like snowflakes from his bag, stared at the "trickle of rice" falling between his fingers, and muttered:

"No, it's not high enough. It has to go up again. Before the Dragon Boat Festival, it must be [-] yuan a bucket. Our county has to give those grain merchants a little bit of Dragon City shock."

Yan Liulang: "..."

Mingfu, if you are kidnapped and coerced by grain merchants, just blink.

Yan Liulang hesitated to speak, but Ouyang Rong was the first to give orders.

"Liulang sent someone to release a message first..."

After his careful instructions, Yan Liulang nodded hesitantly and retreated, but not long after he walked out of the gate, Yan Liulang turned back to the lobby again, this time behind him was a tattooed man.

"Mingfu, look who is here!"

Ouyang Rong, who was still twisting rice with his head bowed in thought, looked up and was a little surprised: "Ah Shan?"

"Thank you, sir, for saving your life."

Liu Ashan directly knelt and kowtowed on the promenade outside the door.

Ouyang Rong hurried forward to help him up.

"Don't kneel to me, it's your fate to survive, it has nothing to do with other people." He sighed.To be honest, it is indeed a ruthless person to survive.

Liu Ashan didn't listen, and still performed the kowtow respectfully.

But then, Ouyang Rong, who was a little busy recently, said something that made him embarrassed.

"Why did Brother Ah Shan come here, but is there any difficulty at home?"

Liu Ashan's expression froze, "Didn't the master come to the county government office to find the master after I recovered from my injury?"

Ouyang Rong realized it later, and then realized it.

The casual words of that day were actually remembered by the sick man.

The old man blushed slightly, and he said calmly:

"That's right, Brother Ah Shan came just in time."

He paused again, and asked: "I remember that you were an official slave, where did you work before?"

Liu Ashan immediately said: "Guyue Sword Shop. Our family is an industrial household, and we used to be officials and untouchables under the management of the county government. Later, the Liu family on the West Bank was appointed by the Holy Master as the Imperial Sword Envoy, and our group of industrial households were assigned to Guyue The sword shop is a long-term job for the Liu family."

Ouyang Rong nodded, and immediately asked Yan Liulang, "Can an official slave like Ah Shan be redeemed?"

Yan Liulang was taken aback, thought for a while and said:

"Yes, yes, but there is no need to waste money. The Ming government can find an excuse and simply send a document to transfer Brother Ashan back to the county government. Isn't doing work for the county government the same as doing things for the Ming government? Over at the Gu Yue Sword Shop, this There are so many workers-like households, it is impossible for the Liu family to argue with the Ming government for an official slave..."

"No need." Ouyang Rong interrupted directly: "Although I am poor, I still have some savings, first use them to redeem Brother Ah Shan."

Yan Liulang and even Liu Ashan didn't quite understand why Ouyang Rong was obsessed with the matter of redemption and freedom, because in the Great Zhou Dynasty, sometimes those who served as private slaves to powerful families were no worse than good citizens.

Ouyang Rong immediately asked the price again, told the two of them to wait a while, returned to the study in Meiluyuan, and took some money back.

Last time he took ten pennies from his aunt, and it turned out that the fundraising banquet in Yuanming Tower only cost two pennies. It may be because there were no dancers and wine attendants for the whole banquet. The boss gave him a "limited time discount".

As for the 650 "pen and paper money" donated to him by those gentry and wealthy families, he donated them all to the county government.

But even so, the remaining nearly eight pennies on his body is still a huge sum of money for ordinary people.

Ouyang Rong picked out a few copper coins, stuffed them back into his bosom, and handed over the remaining seven coins.

Liu Ashan waved his hands in fear, "Master, I don't need so much money to redeem myself."

Ouyang Rong shook his head, "Then redeem your sister or mother too, but Qiguan seems not enough, but you can redeem as many people as you can, and use the remaining money to buy property."

Liu Ashan ah ah ah mouth.

Ouyang Rong waved his hand, "Go, follow Liulang to go through the formalities, and come back to me after the redemption, and you will be a part-time job for me. I heard that you are good at swimming. I just... need people here. Brother Ashan will need a lot of help in the future." .”

Seeing the sincere smile on the face of the young county magistrate, Liu Ashan nodded vigorously, turned around and followed Yan Liulang out without further words.

Ouyang Rong watched the two leave, thought for a while at the door, and turned back to deal with the official documents. At this time, from the corner of his eyes, he saw a red dress rushing towards the corridor in the distance.

After a while, he rushed to him.

Ouyang Rong took a step back silently, as if he was afraid of being bumped into by the junior sister with the ball.

The day before yesterday, Xie Lingjiang, who was yelling at the "big brother" like a curious baby's little follower, now frowned, and questioned Ouyang Rong:

"Master... Brother Lianghan, why did you let go of the price of grain! Do you know that the grain price in the county has risen to [-] yuan a bucket now! I heard rumors that the county magistrate's family is secretly selling grain, so the grain price is opened Is it true that you are pocketing your own money?"

Ouyang Rong raised his eyebrows.

But the first reaction was... the little junior sister looked very kind when she was angry.

……

"You mean, on the night of the audit, after the county magistrate beheaded a scribe, he didn't immediately lead troops to raid the house. The apology wine from the thirteen families? These days, they said that they will hold a Dragon Boat Festival with the gentry? And today they sent back the soldiers from the Zhechong Mansion?"

Su Mansion, the back garden.

After Su Gu'er silently listened to what Baozilian's little maid had inquired about, she couldn't help but confirm with her again.

"That's right, miss."

The colorful ribbon chick nodded like pecking at rice, but the little maid's focus was obviously not on the same channel as her own lady, so she added in a low voice:

"Miss, I really didn't expect that the new county magistrate, who looks so handsome and looks like a frail scholar, would actually kill someone with his own hands."

"Yeah, I really didn't expect..." Su Gu'er whispered.

Caishou's eyes sparkled, "Well, it's just like the life-threatening scholar in the novels, romantic and suave, but deadly."

Su Gu'er didn't even raise her eyelids, and Caishou didn't feel bored when she saw this, and continued to paint the plum blossom makeup on the center of the eyebrows of the young lady who was thinking.

The little maid with a bun face held a vermilion brush in her hand, and the more she painted, the more she felt that the young lady's pretty face looked so foul, even a girl like her was a little moved.

It's a pity that the young lady doesn't smile most of the time, and she doesn't have the coquettishness of her daughter's family. She often stays alone, either with cold eyes or frowning.

A physicist came to the house before, and told the master and wife that the young lady will be hurt if she is extremely intelligent, and she should be asked to think less about things and spend more time in the leisure time of her daughter's house.

Raising civet cats and painting plum blossom makeup are one of the leisure activities.

This plum blossom makeup is a coincidence. One day the year before last, the young lady was lying down under the eaves for a nap. The wind happened to blow a plum blossom onto the young lady’s forehead. It may have been on the skin for too long, or it may have faded and turned red. Thus, a plum blossom-shaped reddish scar was left on the young lady's forehead, which could not be wiped off, and made her originally cold and arrogant face somewhat charming and delicate.So at dinner, the master and wife saw it, and they liked it very much, so they let the lady keep it specially, and they often wear plum makeup on weekdays...

"It's like a different person, this is..." Su Gu'er whispered: "Shangjiu, Kanglong has regrets."

The little face of Caishou, who was putting on makeup for her, was a little stunned:
"Huh? What does that mean?"

Su Gu'er flicked her away, left the bamboo chair with her slender body, held a book in front of her chest, and wandered in the garden. After a while, she squinted her eyes and said softly:
"I missed it before."

The color ribbon became more and more confused.

The girl with plum blossom makeup who loves to talk about Xuan ignored the stupid maid, casually opened the "Book of Changes" in her arms, tapped a certain page and line with her slender fingers, and she murmured:

"Then it's... the ninth day of the ninth day, don't use Qianlong."

(End of this chapter)