Bachelor

Chapter 294 New Year's Eve (Part [-])

The hall of Fangshan Weaving Bureau.

It was just getting dark, and dozens of candles had already been lit in the lobby, illuminating a wide hall like daylight.

Everything is new, the furnishings in the house are crude, the floor has not been laid, and loess is still exposed in some places.

The room was very noisy, there were more than 50 squires sitting on the chairs, and on the table in front of them, the wine and food were naturally extremely exquisite, but in the midst of the steaming heat, everyone still looked dissatisfied.

It is conceivable that being invited by the county magistrate to dinner at the Weaving Bureau on New Year's Eve and not being able to reunite with his family is indeed a rather unpleasant thing.Moreover, it seems that the magistrate wants to take money from their pockets.

Some time ago, when farmers were converted to mulberry, the old Xier of Shanxi merchants got Sun Dan's instruction and spread a large amount of small loans like running water, luring the farmers who were attached to them to retreat one after another.

Almost overnight, the net worth of Fangshan gentry shrank by [-]% without exception.

Sun Dan's diabolical move just hit everyone's seven inches, gaining fame, then relying on the country's preferential policies for scholar-bureaucrats to accumulate population and land, and then sneaking into the ranks of gentry, is the best way to start a fortune in this era.Everyone here has fame and fame, and many of them have been scholars for generations. The wealth accumulated by several generations has reached an astonishing figure.

They also vaguely heard that Sun Dan would implement tax reform after he came to Fangshan. In fact, everyone was not afraid.Local affairs are usually undertaken by the squires. Sun Danruo took drastic measures and offended the entire squire class, causing chaos.

But it never occurred to me that Sun Dan didn't go out in person at all, and only changed the farming to mulberry, which made the matter of clearing the land take advantage of the trend, and also made everyone dumb to eat coptis, unable to explain their suffering.They can't be like Guo Pu, tear off their face and don't want it, send their servants to join the retreating peasants with white knives in, and red knives out to do it. They are all villagers, and there are some things that they can't do.

In other words, it’s a blessing in disguise, but it’s a blessing in disguise. Recently, Sun Dan started this weaving bureau, which led to a large influx of foreign population into Fangshan. The clever gentry opened shops and speculated on real estate, and still made a fortune.

Although seeing the actual progress, the dissatisfaction with Sun Dan is still deep-rooted in his heart.

Regarding Sun Dan's proposal to invest in the Weaving Bureau, everyone except Guo Pu held a non-cooperative attitude.It's just a New Year's Eve dinner, well, I'll just bring a mouth.As for the rest, let's not talk about it.

Just kidding, the official business is so easy to do.If you look at the government-run weaving bureaus in the south, any businessmen who cooperate with the government will end well.However, being beaten to the bone and sucking the marrow exhausted his family property, and he was thrown into prison after the incident happened.

Everyone is educated and well-known, and they are considered elites in this era, so they are not so easy to fool.

In China, there is a simple truth: officials are here to compete with the people for profit. If you want to get benefits from the court, dream about it.

Since entering the hall, everyone is drinking wine and blowing cattle, and one of them is unhappy, and he just yells at the yamen servant who is waiting next to him.

Sun Dan probably wanted to give everyone a time to discuss, but he never showed up.

Accompanied in the hall were Sun Hao, Fangshan's prison master, Song Qingsong, the team leader, and Tang Chen, who was in charge of mulberry planting technology in the Weaving Bureau.

Sun Hao was a bit better, he was born as a scholar. Although Huichang Hou's family was overthrown and his fame was revoked, he was like everyone else, and the country gentry still maintained basic courtesy to him.

As for Song Qingsong and Tang Chen, everyone didn't give him any good looks, they just cursed at each other if they said something wrong.

The three of them can't afford to offend these squires, and I, Daming, ruled the world with the scholar-bureaucrats.These people are the backbone of society, the makers and leaders of public opinion, and the majesty of the government is helpless to them.

The three of them looked at each other and smiled wryly, feeling that the job was really suffocating.

After everyone settled down, Tang Chen couldn't hold back and said to Sun Hao: "Brother Hao, shouldn't we invite the elder to come out?"

Sun Hao: "Has everyone on the list arrived?"

Song Qingsong who was next to him hurriedly replied: "If you go back to Master, it's all here, only one Guo Pu is missing."

Sun Hao: "It doesn't matter if the old boy doesn't come, I never thought of inviting him, but he is the number one gentry in Fangshan, but he has to go there on the scene. Okay, I'll go and invite the old man to come out to meet guests."

Just as he was about to turn around and go back to the inner hall, he heard a drum beeping. All the servants standing in the hall straightened up at the same time, and even the squires who were laughing and playing fell silent.

The three of Sun Hao, who were in charge of receiving the gentry in the hall, were shocked. Although Sun Dan didn't want to turn this weaving bureau into a government-run office, and used the management system of a private firm, today's banquet is of great importance. In order to have a happy and peaceful During the Spring Festival, Sun Dan still brought over his full guard of honor.

According to the rules, such drums should only be knocked when officials with official positions come to visit.

During the Chinese New Year, which official will come here?
Just wondering, a large group of people walked in at the gate of the hall, led by Chengmu Shouli of Fangshan County who had disappeared for many days.

Only then did Sun Hao and the others feel relieved. After all, they were also officials of the seventh rank, beating the drums in accordance with the court etiquette.

However, the group of people around Mu Xiancheng made Sun Hao and others vigilant.

Mu Shouli was followed by two people on one left and one on the right, and Huo Ran on the right was Sun Dan's deadly enemy, Guo Pu.

Guo Pu finally came.

As for Mu Shouli to the left, there is a fat man with a round face, who is only seventeen or eighteen years old.This person was white and fat, and when he entered the lobby, his eyes were rolled to the sky, and his face was arrogant, obviously he had a lot of background.

The left is superior and the right is inferior, Guo Pu is Wu Dinghou's cousin, and he has a great reputation, but he just gave up the position of his left hand to that little fatty. Could it be that this kid has a higher status than Guo Pu.

"It turns out that Master Mu is here."

"Master Mu, I wish you New Year greetings."

Mu Shouli had been the county magistrate in Fangshan for many years, and he was close to the aristocratic family, and had already been regarded by the gentry as one of his own. Seeing him coming in, everyone stood up and saluted.

Sun Hao watched and spit quietly, and said in a low voice: "This old boy is cats at home all day, why do you want to come to the banquet today? I don't think there will be any good things if a night owl enters the house. Thieves and birds, if not He has fame and fame, I crushed his eggs."

While talking, he fixed his eyes on the little fat man, feeling more and more uneasy.

Mu Shouli exchanged a few words with everyone, and introduced the little fat man to everyone: "Everyone, everyone, let's get acquainted. This is Guo Hong, the young master of the Guo family of Marquis Wuding. He is also a scholar. He will succeed the Marquis in the future. I heard, Marquis Guo has intentionally let him enter the Taipu Temple with grace, and if he goes there, he will be a seventh-rank food rank."

"It turned out to be Young Master."

All the squires were in an uproar and stepped forward one after another.

Sun Hao cursed softly beside him: "This Mu Shouli and Guo Pu are trying to give the old man a bad impression. With this fat man coming to make trouble, I'm afraid this New Year's Eve dinner will taste a bit greasy."

(End of this chapter)