The Red Mansions

Chapter 135 Buzz Tea Daily Office Visit by Liu Xianglian and Ni Er
In the tea room, the fragrance of tea overflows.

After Xue Pan took the teacup from Jia Yun, he took a sip and his eyes lit up.

"Brother-in-law is right, the taste of the sparrows produced in Cixi is no worse than those produced in Xuzhou, Jiading, Wuyi, Guizhou, Jintan and other real estates." Xue Pan said with a smile.

Jia Yun smiled and said: "Famous tea comes from high mountains. The winding mountains and streams in eastern Zhejiang are very conducive to the growth of tea trees."

"The "Tea Classic" states: 'Yuezhou, Mingzhou, and Taizhou all produce tea', and it should be 'the most productive ones'."

"This shows that eastern Zhejiang is not only a tea-producing area, but also famous tea."

Most of Cixi's present situation belongs to Guyue area, which is very rich in tea resources.

Especially in the southern region, there are tens of miles of continuous veins of Siming, with strange peaks and dangerous mountains such as Castanopsis, Lion, Nine Dragons, and Baishijian.

There are also many lakes and reservoirs such as Shanglin, Meixi, Shang'ao, Shao'ao and so on.

Among the many teas produced in the south of Cixi, a natural fine tea garden, the most famous is the pearl tea produced in Longnan, which is commonly known as Longnan tea.

Longnan tea trees are mostly grown on the mountainside, and they are picked around the Grain Rain.

The finished tea leaves are round and tightly knotted, heavy and solid, with green color and faint pekoe.

Brew a cup, the room will be full of fragrance, take a sip, the aftertaste will be endless, it is "fragrant in nine Wan Fanglan, round like jasper beads on a plate".

Xue Pan gave a thumbs up, laughed and said, "Why don't you say that scholars know the world's affairs without going out?"

"My brother-in-law has never been to Cixi before, but he knows that the tea produced here is delicious. This is also a skill!"

After Jia Yun took a sip of the tea, her lips and teeth were fragrant, and he said: "This tea we are drinking is not new, it is a little bit off, but even so, this tea is the best among teas."

"That's why I asked Xiren to prepare dozens of catties and bring them back to the capital. Not only can the family taste them, but they can also be used as gifts. It kills two birds with one stone."

"Brother-in-law knows how to plan carefully!" Xue Pan narrowed his eyes and smiled, then he shook his head and sighed:

"It's a pity that Cixi is only a county after all, and the tea produced is limited. Otherwise, it can really make a lot of money with this tea."

Jia Yun nodded and said, "In the end, I won't stay in Cixi for too long. It's the limit of what I can do to make our trade routes collect some special products at high prices to increase people's income."

"If I can stay here for three or four years, or five or six years, I can give a lot of support. It's really not a dream to make all kinds of industries bigger and stronger. What I'm doing now is at best anticlimactic."

Xue Pan agreed: "That's true, but my brother-in-law has no choice but to do this!"

"If you want to invest a lot of money now, when the time comes, people will leave the tea, won't you just make wedding dresses for others? We can't do this!"

After the two chatted for a while, Jia Yun asked, "Have all the managers, deacons, accountants, shopkeepers, etc. of the Zhejiang Commercial Road Trading Bureau arrived?"

"It's already here in the morning, and in the afternoon, I will follow your instructions and go to discuss with those gentry." Xue Pan nodded and said.

Jia Yun nodded and said, "You should pay more attention to this matter. Our business route will be divided into three parts in the future."

"Part of the business is mainly based on the business of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, dealing in bulk commodities such as spices, cloth, grain, and fur. Although the Ministry of Internal Affairs takes the lion's share of the profits from these businesses, we are not losing money, but taking advantage of it."

"The other part is to build a separate commercial route, mainly for maritime trade, to sell goods such as porcelain, silk, tea, and ironware from the Central Plains to foreign countries, and then to buy food, spices, jewelry, etc. from abroad to earn money. "

"The last part is to rely on the Xue family trade route, integrate special products from all over the country, and build a new trade route dedicated to selling these things. If this is done well, not only will the Xue family earn money, but it will also benefit all people."

Xue Pan nodded and replied: "I know, isn't it just walking on three legs that brother-in-law you said, I will keep an eye on this matter, but you also know my ability..."

Jia Yun interrupted him with a wave of her hand, and said earnestly, "It's not that I want you to do business."

"Don't worry, as long as you keep an eye on them, no one will dare to do anything wrong. Isn't there still a cashier sent by the Ministry of Internal Affairs to watch?"

"Okay, I'm not good at other things, but I'm pretty good at making me domineering." Xue Pan nodded.

While talking, Meiren yelled softly outside the door: "Master, the meal is ready..."

Jia Yun raised her head and asked Xue Pan, "Do you want to eat together?"

"No, those people who came from the business route tonight invited me to be the host, I have to keep my stomach." Xue Pan shook his head and said.

Jia Yun got up and said: "Okay, when you go out, call some of my personal guards to follow, don't be careless, forget it, just call some people from the patrol camp over, change into regular clothes and follow."

As he spoke, he called Jia Wenlin in and made arrangements.

From the news he got when Jin Yiwei came to pay his account last time, he knew that the Wang family hadn't given up on Xue's family. Not only were there people on the business road paying attention, but even Xue Pan was probably watched by people from time to time.

This further proves that Xue Baochai's previous guess is correct. The Wang family and Jia's family are colluding and doing everything they can.

Of course, these two families don't dare to deal with the Xue family blatantly now. After all, people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs have been involved in the Xue family business route, and they don't have the courage to judge them.

But because of this, they wanted to get rid of Xue Pan even more.

After all, Xue Pan has resumed his household registration, and he is the first heir to the Xue family's property. It is impossible for Xue Pan's offshoots to compete for the family property.

The only thing is to kick Xue Pan out of the way, so that others will have a chance, such as Xue Biao, or people from other houses in the Xue family.

Therefore, the next time they deal with Xue Pan, because of the previous lessons, they will definitely do nothing if they don't move, and they will be thunderous if they move, and they will not give him another chance to survive.

This is also the reason why Xue Baochai would persuade Xue Wangshi to persuade Xue Pan to follow Jia Yun.

Following Jia Yun does not mean that there is no danger, but that Jia Yun has always acted cautiously and likes to plan before acting. Xue Pan followed him, at least it would be much safer.

The next day, the first day of February.

The three halls of the county government and the county magistrate's office are the places where the county magistrate works.

Jia Yun read through the recent documents slowly, making some instructions and stamping them from time to time.

At this time, the officials of the Lifang came to report, saying that the list of people who participated in the county examination in Cixi County this year had been compiled.

Jia Yun took a look at the list and found that more than 700 people had signed up.

"Jiangsu and Zhejiang are worthy of being a place with a prosperous literary style. In an ordinary county, there are so many scholars applying for the county exam." Jia Yun thought to herself.

No wonder people say that Zhejiang's imperial examination competition is fierce. You must know that Cixi County has a share of the number of people who take the exam every year, and the maximum number cannot exceed 50.

Most of the time, only thirty or forty people are admitted in the Cixi County Examination every year, and the places are not used up.

This is the same as the rural examination and general examination. The imperial court will limit the number of places, select the best from the best, and would rather admit less than fill up the number.

After Jia Yun read the list, she ordered the official of the ceremonial house: "Take it down, and carefully check the identity and household registration of each student, even those who are born with insurance, and there must be no mistakes!"

"My lord, the little one has already been inspected by someone, and there is no problem!" the pawn said with a flattering smile.

Jia Yun squinted at him, threw the list over, and said with a blank expression: "Then check it again!"

The pawn suddenly shivered, took the list with both hands, bowed his head and smiled obsequiously, saying that he would check it carefully several times to ensure that there would be no problems.

Jia Yun waved her hand and let the pawn go out.

If the pawn was released again, he didn't realize it until he went out the door. In just a few breaths, his back was wet with cold sweat.

"Huh... As expected of the master who can kill with a sword, a faint look in his eyes can make people frightened!" The pawn took a long breath, thinking with lingering fear.

There will not be more than 100 subordinate staff in the county government.

Among them, there are only a dozen of the most important six-room staff.

Staff who have undergone professional training.

Not only was he able to complete the government's work with ease, but he also maintained close ties with the gentry, keeping conflicts out of the county government.

The stability of the government's local management system has been maintained.

This management model also keeps Zhixian completely away from daily work.

But if the county magistrate lacks the means to use them, the subordinate officials and squires will unite to empty the county magistrate, and then oppress the people.

Therefore, when Jia Yun took office, she crushed this group of veterans to death.

To deal with them, there is no need to use any clever means at all, just use power to overwhelm them, and all kinds of work can make them exhausted.

Just like the situation just now, no matter whether there are any problems with the list, Jia Yun will ask them to check it again several times.

Anyway, the yamen has no other important things recently, which makes them too idle, and their minds are distracted if they don't keep them together. It's better to work more.

Of course, you have to be sympathetic to your subordinates. The combination of grace and power is always the only way to be a leader.

After the clerk of the ceremonial room left for a while, the clerk of the official room came.

"Xianzun, this is an official document from the superior just received." The pawn handed a document to Jia Yun.

Jia Yun took it over and took a look, and found that it was an official letter issued by the Ministry of Officials, which said that the new county magistrate would arrive in Cixi to take up his post in mid-March.

"Xia Baichuan? Is it him?" Jia Yun closed the official letter and thought to herself.

It would be interesting if the Xia Baichuan he knew really came.

The year before last, Jia Yun wanted to invite Xia Baichuan to be her husband, but later met the scholar who was talking nonsense in her shop and got involved with him, so she didn't invite him.

"I don't know if he knows that I'm the county magistrate here?" Jia Yun said with a smirk in her heart.

At the same time, he was wondering.

It stands to reason that Xia Baichuan stayed in the capital, and he should be waiting to take the exam this year. What made him drop the exam?Would it be more attractive to come to Cixi to be the magistrate than to take part in the examination?
Thinking of this, Jia Yun asked the court official, "Is there any document coming down together?"

"No, the clerk who sent the official letter said that the document is still being compiled in Ningbo Mansion, and it will be delivered in a few days." The scribe replied with a salute.

Jia Yun nodded and said: "Okay, the document is here, send it over as soon as possible."

The pawn agreed, took his leave and left.

After the pawns left, Jia Yun got up and stretched, then took a look at the sky outside, and it was almost noon, so she left the magistrate's house and went home in an official sedan chair.

Now that the official affairs of the county government have been basically straightened out, he doesn't have to go there every day to work, and he still has this right.

When she got home, Mei Ren took out a piece of loose clothes for Jia Yun to change into.

"The south is quite different from the north. The weather warms up early. It's just entered February, and the sun is getting bigger." Meiren pursed her lips.

Seeing that she even changed into thinner clothes, Jia Yun took her hand and said with a smile:
"We are close to the sea here, and the temperature difference between day and night is big, so you don't get wind and cold from the cold."

At this time, the beauty came in with hot water and waited for Jia Yun to wash her face and hands.

Seeing that she was still wearing winter clothes, Jia Yun said to Meiren, "You look pretty, don't be in a hurry to change into seasonal clothes."

"Let me tell you, anyway, you are staying at home and not doing any heavy work, so you should wear more."

Mei Ren smiled and said, "I'm different from her. I have practiced martial arts. I have a good physique and am not afraid of the cold!"

"Heh, you didn't know that beauties can also do martial arts?" Jia Yun rolled her eyes and said.

The beauty looked at the charming woman, bit her lip and said nothing.

Speaking of which, she has practiced martial arts longer than Meiren.

But comparing the two, Charming's strength is much greater than hers.

Although Mei Ren's fighting skills are not very good, but she can easily hold the beauty with ten times of strength, so the beauty rarely competes with Mei Ren in martial arts.

Because you can't fight.

But now she is also learning the "Broken Enemy Fist" that Jia Yun gave her. Because she has practiced martial arts before, it is quite difficult to re-practice one, so she has just started.

The three of them laughed and played, and came to the corridor in the yard to sit down and talk.

The spring breeze in February is like scissors.

Spring is cold and cold, waiting for the flowers to bloom!

It has just entered February, and the flowers, plants and trees in the yard have grown new branches, and the flower buds are also budding, and the garden is full of spring.

The sun is warm and soft, and it is very comfortable to bask in.

Charming gently squeezed Jia Yun's shoulders, and asked with a smile, "Do you want to wait for Uncle Xue to come back for lunch today?"

"Don't wait for him." After Jia Yun took a sip of her fragrant tea, she shook her head and said, "He has something to do these days, so he doesn't eat at home."

Charming asked curiously, "Is it something on the business road?"

"Yeah." Jia Yun nodded slightly, but didn't intend to talk about it in detail.

The charming man didn't ask any further questions, but only said: "Master, did you say that the letter we wrote to our family has arrived in the capital?"

"I'm afraid it won't be that fast." Jia Yun thought for a while and said, "I guess it will be the middle of this month, let's see if Baochai and the others can receive our letter."

Charming sighed, and said: "I guess they are waiting for our letter, and they are also hopeless."

Jia Yun smiled and said, "Don't worry, when the letter hawks and pigeons we sent back arrive, you can write them a letter every few days."

"How far can an eagle fly in a day?" Charming asked curiously.

Jia Yun pondered: "Two to three hundred kilometers! An eagle spends a quarter of its life flying!"

Charmingly said: "That is to say, it takes five or six days for an eagle to deliver a letter from the capital to our Cixi?"

"Well, almost, this is still flying at full strength without other dangers." Jia Yun nodded.

At this moment, the beauty who was beating Jia Yun's leg suddenly asked, "Master, can we really go back this year?"

Jia Yun smiled and said: "Of course, it can be false? I am going to take the test next year, can I succeed if I don't go back? If I miss it again, I will have to wait for another two years!"

Li Ren breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the words, she said: "I don't know what's going on, since the day I left the capital, I've been worried about that girl Ke Ren..."

Speaking of this, she hesitated for a moment, and continued: "Master, but she... has all her thoughts on you..."

Jia Yun nodded and asked, "What do you want to say?"

"Well... the next time the master writes a letter home, if you can just write a letter to Keren, she will be very happy." Li Ren said with her lips pursed.

Jia Yun smiled and said, "I thought you were going to say something. I promised to write a letter to her next time."

Charming interjected: "But Ren is a good person, with a gentle personality, and always loves to give silently. To be honest, since she came to our house, the old lady has become much happier."

Doesn't Jia Yun know that Keren is doing his filial piety for him?
It's just that the identity of the beauty has not been clarified at that time, so Jia Yun has not expressed anything to Keren.

But what Mei Ren said was good, Ke Ren is indeed a good person.

Although Jia Yun has always been a little estranged from Keren, she is not sad or discouraged, and instead treats Mrs. Bu well. To put it bluntly, Mrs. Bu is almost treating Keren as her real daughter-in-law.

If Jia Yun hadn't married Xue Baochai now, Baobuqi Bu would have come to persuade him to marry Keren.

"I know this matter in my heart. You should stop talking about it in the future, especially after returning to the capital, you are not allowed to talk about it in front of Baochai. After all, she is now the real wife!" Jia Yun said seriously.

No matter how beautiful a woman is, she cannot be fooled.

When you should be ruthless, you should be ruthless, and you must have the rules you should have, otherwise the family will be chaotic.

Jia Yun would not mess up the house for a woman, that would be picking up sesame seeds and losing watermelon, and the gain outweighs the gain.

Meiren and Liren saw Jia Yun's rare seriousness, so they didn't dare to say any more. Jia Yun's promise to Liren to write to Keren was already a great achievement, and it was a big gain.

While talking, Jia Ming ran in from the outside and said, "Master, Mr. Liu Xianglian and Master Ni are here, and they are waiting at the door right now."

Jia Yun's face brightened when she heard this, she stood up and said: "Mei Ren and Li Ren, hurry up and prepare tea and make a good dinner. I want to treat Brother Liu and Brother Ni well!"

After finishing speaking, he stepped towards the door.

When they came to the door, Liu Xianglian and Ni Er were talking, followed by a group of gangsters.

Jia Yun laughed loudly and said, "Hahaha... I said why the magpies in the yard are always barking non-stop. I didn't expect Brother Liu and Second Brother Ni to come!"

"I've met Master Jia!" The two saluted in unison.

Jia Yun stepped forward to hold the arms of the two of them, and said with a smile: "Excuse me, hurry up and let's go, let's go into the room and talk!"

At the same time, he ordered Jia Wenlin to make good arrangements for the people they brought.

To be honest, before meeting Jia Yun, Liu Xianglian and Ni Er were quite nervous.

I haven't seen him for more than half a year, and now Jia Yun has not only passed the Juren examination, but has also become a magistrate.

Facing the government, it was a lie for the two to say that they were not nervous.

Fortunately, after seeing Jia Yun now, Jia Yun didn't turn their backs on them because of the change of status, which made them breathe a sigh of relief.

PS: Just a weak question, is there no monthly pass yet?

(End of this chapter)