lady, please calm down

Chapter 357 Dajiang Sword, He Huanfeng!
  On the third day of March, by the river in Huoqiu County, Huainan.

More than three hundred sprayers were scattered in a narrow strip of land about fifteen miles from east to west and forty miles from north to south.

The crops that have not yet been infected are sprayed with bacterial liquid in order to form an isolation zone to prevent the disease from spreading westward and then affecting Huaibei, which is across the river.

However, the bacterial solution can only significantly reduce the chance of contracting the disease. If you want to completely isolate the possibility of disease infection, it is best to open up an isolation belt about ten miles wide and harvest and burn all the wheat within this range.

However, this proposal will obviously not be easily accepted by the Huainan squire.

They were able to trust Chen Chu and his gang only because Wang Yuanwai, a Cai goods businessman in Huoqiu County, acted as a guarantee.

Cai goods is a term that has become popular in the past two years. It refers to various exquisite and rare objects produced near Caizhou in Huaibei.

Wang Yuanwai's family used to be involved in the business of smuggling and leaking ships across the river. In recent years, because they have represented Cai Huo, they have become one of the top families in the city.

People who started out as smugglers have dark hands, so it would not be unfair to say that they are part-time water bandits.

Therefore, most of the local gentry would give him a little favor, but if he wanted them to destroy their fields, Wang Yuanwai's reputation was obviously not enough.

The real talker in Huoqiu County is Yuanwai Luo Jinyi from Luojiadian in the county, and Yuanwai Luo's honor guard has a great background.

His son-in-law is none other than Lord Wanqixi Wanqi, the third-rank minister of Dali Temple, who is a close friend of the emperor and the Prime Minister of Qin!
  Not to mention Huoqiu County, but the entire Huainan West Road, who can't first come to pay homage to Mr. Wanqi's father-in-law, Luo Yuanwai, when he takes office?

Just like Chen Bokang, who had just been transferred to the Huainan West Road Economic Envoy a few months ago, he rushed to visit the old official on his second day in office.
  At the beginning of noon, Chen Chu, dressed as a farmer, sat under the shade of a tree, looking at Xue Dingshan who was clumsily diluting the bacterial solution, and couldn't help but think of some things he learned last night.

This Xue Dingshan is a farmer from Lao'echi Village nearby, the family where Chen Chu stayed last night.

The spraying team was short of manpower, so they recruited some local farmers to help, and he was one of them.

Before coming to Huainan, Chen Chu only knew about the poverty of the people in Huainan and the lack of livelihood from the information from the military commander and the Caobang.

But Chen Chu thought at the time that although Huainan was not a land of plenty like Jiangsu and Zhejiang, it had always been an important grain-producing area in later generations.

No matter how hard it is, how hard can it be? Even if there is a bad year and a bad harvest, won't there still be rivers all over it?

Fishing and catching shrimps will always make you full.

But last night I heard Xue Dingshan say that all the mountains and rivers in Huoqiu belong to several wealthy families headed by Mr. Luo!
  Not only did he go down the river to fish, he even went up the mountain to collect firewood. When his servants saw him, he was severely beaten.

Chen Chu originally thought that the concentration of [-]% of Tongshan's land in the hands of the gentry was considered extreme, but after understanding the situation in Huoqiu, he realized what the ferocity of land annexation was.

In Huoqiu County, [-]% of the land belongs to the gentry, of which the Luo family accounts for [-]%.

And because Huainan West Road is close to the State of Qi, and the State of Qi was not settled in the past few years, a large number of people fled south here every year. In order to prevent these refugees from invading Jiangnan and polluting the colorful world of the nobles, almost all the refugees were resettled on the spot after entering the country. On Huainan West Road.

Huainan is a densely populated place, and with the continuous influx of refugees, resources are becoming increasingly scarce.

In Xue Dingshan's words, during the spring famine there were not even enough wild vegetables for everyone to grab. If a family had an elm tree, every spring when there was no food in February or March, the whole family would take turns watching it to prevent anyone from secretly peeling off the bark and eating it.

Of course, elm bark is not tasty, but it is non-toxic. Grind it into powder and steam it into steamed buns, which can at least make your stomach happy.

There are many people but few resources, and because this place is located on the front line, the labor force is the most heavy in the Zhou Dynasty!

Repair cities, build military villages, cut down trees and build ships, pave roads and build bridges.
  There are people who die from exhaustion every year.

The death of a strong laborer on a construction site means the demise of a small family. Without men, women and children will either quietly starve to death at home, or sell themselves into slavery and change their status from civilian to untouchable.

In an already difficult life, God also joins in the fun.

The year before last, a flood swept north and south of the Huaihe River. After the disaster, the last group of homesteaders in Huoqiu County who managed to support themselves were completely bankrupt. Except for officials, businessmen, and Le Chang, almost all the people in the county became tenant farmers and gentry slaves.

Somehow, Chen Chu suddenly remembered his miserable mother-in-law, whom he had only met a few times. Mao'er told her that a few days before her death, her mother-in-law was still thinking of escaping to Dazhou.
  But is this Great Zhou really a paradise?

At the same time, Huoqiu County Yamen Hall.

The sound of silk and bamboo is overwhelming, and the graceful singing voice praises a glorious chapter of prosperity.
  "Lindong Emperor, all things are prosperous. The emperor Tao Tang, Xuan Zhongguang, things are safe, people are not hurt. People are not hurt, Yu Yuanliang. Xi is nourished by scenery and blessings, and my king is happy and happy."

The popular lady of Goulan County, half holding a pipa, is sitting in the center.

Huoqiu Xiangxian, who imitated the famous celebrities of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, sat at separate tables, either stroking his palms and praising frequently, or leaning against the beams and pillars like a mad man.

At the top, there were two people sitting side by side. The old man with chicken skin and white hair was stroking his beard and smiling. It was Luo Jinyi, the boss of Huoqiu.

The middle-aged man with a slender face, eyes closed, shaking his head to the rhythm of the music, is Chen Bokang, the new Huainan West Road Economic and Technological Envoy.

It was just a song. Chen Bokang, who seemed to be intoxicated, was still swinging his body back and forth. Luo Jinyi on the side couldn't help but call out in a low voice, "Master Chen? Master Chen"

"Oh? Is the performance finished? That's wonderful."

Chen Bokang suddenly woke up and saw Luo Yuanwai looking at him. He quickly raised his hand to salute, but accidentally brought a wine glass with his sleeve. Chen Bokang hurriedly went to hold the wine glass, but his sleeve was soaked in vegetable soup again.

For a moment, I was so busy that it was so funny.

Even Lou Yuxing, the magistrate of Huoqiu who was two levels away from him, frowned.

The gentry below even snickered a few times.

Even though Chen Bokang was the one who comforted him all the way, everyone still looked down upon him, not only because of his stupid behavior at this time, but also because of his too frequent visits to Huoqiu in recent days.
  Isn't it just because Luo Yuanwai is here? You are a fourth-grade local official after all. It is too shameful to fawn over Luo Yuanwai like this.

Even if he is the father-in-law of the Minister of Dali Temple, it is too much.

Chen Bokang, however, seemed completely unaware of the ambiguous glances. He first flattered the Emperor Shengming who was far away in Lin'an, and then made a disgusting compliment to Lord Wanqi of Dali Temple.
  To praise Yuan Wai's son-in-law in front of Luo Yuan Wai is to praise Yuan Wai Luo.

It wasn't until Yuan Luo was made to smile shyly that Chen Bokang finally turned to the topic and mentioned the food tax owed by Huoqiu County last year.
  Since the floods in Huainan in the ninth year of the Great Zhou Dynasty in Shaoxing two years ago, several counties along the Huainan West Road have not paid grain taxes.

Moreover, after Chen Bokang took office, he also petitioned the court to waive last year's grain tax.

You have asked the court to exempt grain taxes, but you still mentioned this matter to the gentry. Don't you clearly want to make a fortune from them?

Everyone remained calm and looked at Luo Jinyi.

Luo Jinyi only looked at Chen's knowledge and interest, so he didn't give him a bad look. After thinking for a moment, he said: "Master Chen also knows that after the flood the year before last, Huo Qiu was seriously affected and has not been able to recover. . It is really difficult to raise food taxes, but I, the Luo family, have been working hard for you, so I am willing to cut down on clothing and food to save a hundred taels of silver."

With Luo Jinyi's statement, the families below also said: "Hey, my little girl is about to get married, so I will take fifty taels from the dowry and give it to you."

"I have several pieces of calligraphy and painting at home that can be used as thirty taels of silver. I would like to hand them over to you, sir."

The scene was very lively, but with so many people together, they couldn't even collect five hundred taels.

In other words, it means that you, Chen Bokang, are a high-ranking official. You can get four to five hundred taels of silver just by opening your mouth. Isn't that okay?

But Chen Bokang had a grimace on his face, as if he didn't think the money could quench his thirst. He thought for a while, then suddenly smiled shyly at Luo Jinyi and said: "Except Member Luo, there is a vacancy for the county magistrate in Shouchun County, and I am responsible for recommending it." , but I am new to this treasure land and know very little about the talents in Huainan. Is there anyone who can recommend a suitable candidate?"

"."

"."

As soon as these words came out, the hall fell silent.

Lou Yuxing, the magistrate of Huoqiu County, was so stunned that he forgot to drink from his wine glass. My Lord Manager, you must be so short of money! He actually put the selling of official positions and titles on the bright side!

The chief officials of various places in the Great Zhou Dynasty had to be appointed by the court in person, but the assistant officials such as county magistrates, chief registrars, and dianshi could be recommended by various circles.

It is not uncommon for such low-level positions to be given as favors by superiors to the gentry of various places, but it is rare for them to be said so openly!
  Do you still want the official’s face?

"." Luo Jinyi looked at Chen Bokang, then at the many stunned squires below, and suddenly burst into laughter.

He laughed, Chen Bokang also laughed, and everyone below couldn't help but laugh too.

Although the rank of the assistant officials in each county is not high, these country squires do not have many scholars in their families. They can spend some money to take up posts in one place. This business is not a loss.

After all, there are still certain thresholds for becoming an official in Dazhou, unlike Chen Chu in Huaibei who promotes whoever he wants in his own territory. Even Luo Jinyi was moved. Although a son-in-law is expensive, things like favor should be used with caution!

You can come to him for big things, and small things like arranging for one or two of the family members to join the officialdom are best solved with money.

Local scholars cannot serve as officials locally, and Shouchun happens to be in the next county, so the Luo family's influence can be taken into account. I have to say that Mr. Chen is very considerate!

"Just now, Master Chen was talking about grain tax, right?" Luo Jinyi took the initiative to bring up this issue and said with a smile: "Well, since Master Chen has opened his mouth, I will sell my land and house and collect two thousand taels for you, how about it?"

"Mr. Luo understands the righteousness deeply!"

Chen Bokang quickly handed over his hand to express his thanks. With Luo Yuanwai taking the lead, the others all said, "Hey, my daughter is not getting married! Let me relieve your worries first, and my family can raise a thousand taels!"

"My wife also has a thousand taels of silver at the bottom of the box, and I gave them all to you!"

This deal is worth it. The Luo family uses two thousand taels to buy a county magistrate. If they pay one thousand taels, they can get a chief bookkeeper and a county captain!
  Amidst the commotion, Chen Bokang said awkwardly: "Everyone, can you break the silver into grain?"

After everyone thought for a moment, they immediately realized that the disease had recently broken out in Shouchun, Changfeng, and Dingyuan counties northeast of Huainan West Road.

Seeing that the price of grain is on the rise, many squire families have already stocked up a large amount of grain, waiting for the time to come and make a fortune.
  At this time, it seems that Mr. Chen also wants to get a share of the pie!
  "Hahaha, Mr. Chen is so calculating! Food is food." Luo Jinyi readily agreed.

Compared with the kind of Shangguan who is obviously honest and greedy or wants to be greedy but has no courage, officials like Chen Bokang who speak out what they want are even more cute.

In the future, maybe we can do something else to make a fortune together, so let’s take him with us this time.

"Haha, Mr. Chen, three thousand stones of new grain will be delivered to you in three days. Sir, please arrange manpower in advance. But when will the goods be shipped, you have to wait for our news and act together. Don't mess up the market."

"It's easy to talk about." Chen Bokang smiled happily.

All the squires were equally happy, but Lou Yuxing, the magistrate of Huoqiu, felt a sense of disgust in his heart. Since he could be a stable official in Huoqiu, he naturally colluded with the squires.

Lou Yuxing was not disgusted with his boss's greed. What he was disgusted with was how could Chen Bokang be so nakedly shameless!
  How come he, Lou Yuxing, can’t do it!
  Hey, it’s all because I read too many sages’ books before becoming an official, and I always took my face into consideration. Today, when I met Chen Jinglue, I realized that a real man should act according to his heart and not care about the worldly opinions!
  If Chen Jinglue becomes a high-ranking official, look at how efficient he is. In just one meal, he can get nearly [-] shi of food!
  It was Lou Yuxing who had hinted to Luo Yuanwai several times that he wanted to join their food hoarding gang, but Luo Yuanwai never let him play with him.
  After the discussion was over, everyone drank happily until late in the afternoon, when Chen Bokang, who was drinking heavily, vomited all over the sister who was pouring wine next to him in public, and then left the county government office with the help of his students.

All the squires gave them a symbolic farewell and returned to the hall to continue.
  Not the end of time.

Chen Bokang, who was lying on the donkey's back, was more than ten miles away from the city when he suddenly woke up and quickly turned over on the donkey's back, changing from lying down to sitting down.

Tian Qinghou, the student leading the donkey, was not surprised by this. He turned back to the two guards following the donkey and said, "Bring the teacher's water cup."

The guard was also very skillful. He took the bamboo kettle from his body, opened the lid and handed it to Chen Bokang.

"Hululu tui" Chen Bokang raised his head and gargled his mouth first. After squirting out a mouthful, he took a few more sips and asked, "Where are you?"

"Ahead is Lao Goose Pond."

Tian Qinghou, who was by Chen Bokang's side the whole time today, was not in a high mood. After saying this, he couldn't help but muttered: "Teacher, what you did today, aren't you afraid that it will be spread out and your reputation will be tarnished?"

"Reputation? Did you ask for six thousand shi of food for me as a teacher?" Chen Bokang winked at Tian Qinghou, showing no trace of the poise of a local official or a role model for others.

"Do we have to use this method of self-destruction?" Tian Qinghou led the donkey, feeling a little sad.

"Idiot. It's hard to be an official in this world, but it's even harder to be a good official. If you want to get things done, you need to be more slippery and cunning than corrupt officials to be able to defeat them. A humble gentleman should only teach, not the court."

While Chen Bokang was speaking, he picked up a piece of minced meat stuck to his chest with his nails. He originally planned to stuff it into his mouth, but suddenly he remembered that it might be the filth he had just vomited, so he reluctantly flicked it away with his fingers.
  The guard named Ma Chao who was following the donkey couldn't help but feel a chill and couldn't help but said: "Master! Aren't you full?"

"Isn't that right! I vomited all the good stuff on that sister. What a pity! What a pity."

Chen Bokang sighed and turned back to Ma Chao: "In three days, you will bring people here to pick up the grain and transport it to Shouchun County immediately. The local crops are seriously affected by diseases. If the spring grain cannot be collected, people will starve to death."

"Yes."

"Teacher, Mr. Wanqi's father-in-law said that you are not allowed to sell grain alone. You ruined their good deeds by doing this. How can they let the teacher give up?"

Tian Qinghou said worriedly, but Chen Bokang turned around and blew his nose, raised his leg to wipe the snot from his fingers on the soles of his boots, and then said: "I have got the food, why am I still afraid of him? Your teacher, I am a fourth-grade Huainanxi The envoy will be appeased on the way!"

"Well, a few months ago I was promoted from a third-grade minister to a fourth-grade 'big official'."

"You know very well! I came to Huainan West Road on purpose!"

With nothing to do, Chen Bokang had a few words with the students. Suddenly, Tian Qinghou was admitted to the school. "Children, you have been to Caizhou with Hu Quan a few times. Tell me, Caizhou has suddenly risen in just a few years." , why?”

Tian Qinghou braced himself, took a few breaths to organize his words, and then said: "Caizhou's wealth is nothing more than industry and commerce!"

"Oh? Keep talking."

"The Great Zhou Dynasty and the Puppet Qi Dynasty had no official business. Over the years, bartering between the north and the south relied on leaking ships. However, Caizhou took the leaking ship bartering on the bright side. It not only provided protection for Zhou Qi merchants, but also had extremely low tax rates. . Coupled with the concentration of local workshops, which produce all kinds of rare and good products. These two items have attracted a large number of profit-seeking merchants from all over the world. But students think that what they can do, we in Huainan can do too!"

"Oh? How?"

"First of all, the teacher can request the imperial court to open Fu in Huainan and establish an official sales market. The tax rate will not be higher than theirs. This will definitely attract some merchants to come to Huainan for business. As for the workshop, we can dig it out from the Huaibei workshop with a lot of money. People! Within a few years, our Huainan will be more prosperous than Huaibei!"

After Tian Qinghou finished speaking, he looked straight at Chen Bokang, as if waiting for the teacher's exclamation or praise.

But Chen Bokang smiled and said: "I didn't talk about the root of the problem."

"Teacher, what is the root of the problem?" Tian Qinghou was a little unconvinced.

Chen Bokang, who was sitting on the back of a donkey, shook his head and said: "Let me ask you, even if the imperial court agrees to build Fu in Huainan and agrees to low taxes, where will the construction materials market and various workshops like those in Huaibei be built? Where did it come from? Where did the land occupied by the new road to facilitate business travel come from? Where did the workers recruited for the workshop come from? "

"The land comes naturally"

Tian Qinghou got stuck mid-sentence. Originally, he thought the problem was the easiest to solve, but after thinking about it carefully, he found it difficult.

Just like in Huoqiu County, the land belongs to these squires. Which one of them has no influence behind it?

The teacher had to go through so much trouble to acquire some food for Shouchun. If they wanted to acquire their land, they would have to fight the teacher desperately!

If the land is not settled, the tenant farmers tied to the land will not be released, and it will be impossible to recruit workers for the workshop.

Chen Bokang continued: "If you want to learn from Huaibei, you need to solve two things. First, you need to get their high-yielding wheat seeds and save some manpower. Second, this is the land."

When he said the last sentence, Chen Bokang had an obvious sigh, and he seemed to know that the matter of 'land' was an unsolvable knot in Huainan.

"How did the fake King Chu do it?" After Tian Qinghou finished speaking, he realized that he had asked a stupid question.

Chen Bokang was really angry and laughed, "He killed so many people in Caizhou and Huaibei, naturally no one dares to compete with him for land! This is something that a teacher cannot do!"

While the master and apprentice were talking, they saw a group of people busy in the wheat field, but they couldn't understand what these people were doing.

Chen Bokang was curious and approached.

From a distance, under the shade of a tree at the edge of the field, I first saw a person lying on the grass with his legs crossed and covering his face with a bamboo hat, seemingly taking a nap.

Next to him, a thin man in slovenly clothes was sitting on a tree stump, concentrating on carving something with a knife.

As he got closer, guard Ma Chao suddenly grabbed Chen Bokang's donkey reins.

Chen Bokang turned around in surprise, but Ma Chao stared at the emaciated man. He looked at it seriously for a long time and suddenly whispered: "Master, this man. His figure looks very much like the man who caused trouble in Lin'an in the past seven years in Fuchang." Dajiang Sword He Huanfeng!"

"He Huanfeng, one of the leaders of the [-]th Route Green Forest Rebels who fought against the Jin Dynasty?"

Tian Qinghou let out a low cry.

　The leader will send more updates!

　　Get up at half past two in the morning!
  　　Brothers, look at my dick!

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)