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Chapter 16 The Prestige of an Official

The coachman whispered: "Uncle, I would like to remind you that the shop in East Street is Mr. Chen Hu's territory. If the shop has not been sold through Mr. Chen Hu, then you have been fooled. If the shop has been bought, Mr. Chen Hu's people will go to make trouble and cannot do the business at all. The younger one advises me, don't ask for the deposit, the shop in East Street cannot be bought."

Lu Tianhua was stunned for a moment, and the coachman said again: "Did you buy the shop on East Street very cheaply? That's a trap. The cheapest shop on East Street is worth more than a thousand taels. If you don't buy a shop, Mr. Chen Hu can only pay for the money. The insider will not be fooled by taking advantage of the price."

When Lu Qi heard it sincerely, he saw that his brother was stunned again, and frowned. He thought for a while, and reached out to take out the county magistrate's waist order from his arms and threw it into his brother's hand. Lu Tianhua was shocked and grabbed the sudden object. He lowered his head and raised his hand and saw that there was a copper plate the size of a palm in his hand. The front of the copper plate was a vicious beast face, and the back was the four cast texts of the Shitaowei.

Lu Tianhua was a scholar and had also recruited soldiers. When he saw the bronze plate, he immediately recognized that this was the exclusive commander of the county magistrate's military waist order. This waist order was equivalent to an official seal or a military order, symbolizing the power of the county magistrate. He looked up at Lu Qi in surprise.

Lu Qi shook his eyes and said in a harmonious voice: "Brother, this is my new job today. No matter what the city is, he is a full-time escort of the grain tax. He is called the Guardian County Captain. Although he does not care about the city affairs, as long as he is a official, he has seventy-sixth power. I don't believe that Chen Hu dares to go against me. If he dares to make trouble, I will accuse him of a collusion bandit and arrest him to clean up outside the city. Brother, please feel free to open a shop."

Lu Tianhua nodded and felt relieved. He really convinced this brother. The position of county lieutenant is pitiful than that of a court official, but he is very powerful in the local area. He is full of public security and greeting prisoners. To put it bluntly, it is the great master who must be worshipped by the evil forces. The most feared thing about the evil forces in the local area is the county lieutenant. Offending the county lieutenant is equivalent to pulling the tail of a tiger. He can bite you half-death in one bite.

Lu Qi carefully accepted the county magistrate's order handed back by his brother. He is now very concerned about the duties of the county magistrate of the guard army. It is not for the salary of a hundred taels, but for the sake of the official power. In the current world, it is difficult to do business normally without power. He must use the protection of the official power to make money. After spending the initial capital accumulation and having a lot of money, the impact of the county magistrate will be no big deal.

Although the carriage was not moving quickly, it also arrived at the political and economic center of Wangjiangpo Township before noon. It was a fortress that was one quarter of the county town. In times of trouble, the powerful men at the town level all had their own arms. The walls of Wangjiang Castle were six meters high and had moat suspension bridges, which seemed to be a small city. There were more than a dozen soldiers holding weapons at the gate of the city to check in and out, and the guards were very strict.

The carriage stopped at the fort gate. Bingyong checked and waved his hand to let go, but Lu Qi was called. The leader of Bingyong pointed to the sword in his hand and said wisely: "Your sword cannot be brought in. Please stay in the fort gate for us to keep it. You can come and get it when you leave."

Lu Qi smiled calmly, reached into his arms and took out the county magistrate's waist ruler and said in a harmonious voice: "Do you know this?"

The leader of the soldier looked at him and his face changed, and he was surprised and said, "This is the county magistrate's commander, are you the county magistrate?"

Lu Qitan smiled and said, "I am the new guardian county lieutenant of Shida County, who is full-time escorting grain taxes. This time I came here not to be a businessman, but to visit relatives, so I did not wear official clothes."

The leader of the Bing Yong nodded and looked at Lu Qi deeply and said respectfully: "You are offended by the little one, please come in."

When Lu Qi entered the fort gate, the leader of the soldier immediately called a subordinate and ordered his superior to report urgently, and sent another person to follow Lu Qi. Because Lu Qi was too young and had a new face, the leader of the soldier was afraid that the bandits were pretending to be infiltrated into the fort city as an insider.

The construction of Wangjiang Fort is good, and it is also a cross street structure that is imitated in the county town. Most of the people living in the fort are landlords and merchants, and the real poor peasants scattered in various villages cannot live in the fort city. The scale of Wangjiang Fort today is caused by chaos. All the landlords of all sizes and landlords in various parts of the countryside are here. The landlords hired to patrol and guard the land. When collecting grain, they have their own "authority" to drive away bandits and guards.

The carriage arrived at Zhou Yue'er's parents' home, an old house covering an area of ​​one acre. When he heard that his daughter's mother-in-law and uncle had arrived, the Zhou family went out to welcome him. Lu Qi met Zhou's father when his brother got married. After a few years, he saw that Zhou, who was only in his early fifties, had a lot of gray hair and hair as white as an old man in his seventies, but his eyes were very bright, and his round face was full of joy.

Lu Qi respectfully stepped forward to greet him. Zhou's father looked at Lu Qi with great appreciation. After meeting each other according to the official ceremony, he welcomed into the old house and gave in a humble manner in the main hall of the old house. Finally, Zhou's father and mother Zhou sat in the main seat, Lu's mother sat in the first seat on the right, Zhou Yue'er stood behind Lu's mother on the right, Lu's mother stood in the right hand side, Lu Tianhua was the lower head, Lu Qi sat in the first seat on the left, and Ning'er stood behind him on the left.

There are strict rules for the hospitality of officials. The normal seats are the male protagonist and the female guest. The long seat is the young seat, the right seat is the right seat, the left seat is the right seat, the left seat is the right seat, the left seat is the right seat, the right seat is the right seat behind Lu's mother, indicating her honorable identity as the eldest daughter-in-law, and Ning'er stands behind Lu Qi on the left, indicating that she is Lu Qi's concubine or concubine.

As the heroine, Zhou's mother took the initiative to talk to Lu's mother for a few words. After the family conversation, Lu's mother explained her purpose and asked her in-laws to help buy a farm. Zhou's father shook his head silently after hearing this.

When Lu's mother saw this, she said politely: "Mr. Zhou, do you think it's not good to buy a farm in Wangjiangpo?"

Zhou's father said seriously: "Mrs. Lu, now the world is difficult and bandits are rampant. The harvest of land is very meager. Ninety percent of the harvest is damaged by bandits and heavy taxes every year. The court's policies on land are also changeable. Sometimes, land is collected and confiscated to implement equal land, and sometimes heavy taxes are drawn on a mu. My husband's 100 acres of ancestral land barely retained by the Zhou family's clan power. It is definitely not wise for the wife to buy land now."

After hearing this, Lu's mother said sadly: "Master Zhou, Xiaoqi brought back some money when she returned this time. It is difficult to do business in the city now, and the Lu family doesn't want to go on the road of business anymore, so they want to buy some land and make a living. If they don't buy land and do business, the Lu family can't stand the waste. I think Xiaoqi has a great official, so it should be reasonable and legal to buy some good land."

Zhou's father shook his head and said, "Mrs. Lu, the system of honorary fields has long been a disaster for the country. Not to mention elsewhere, even if the Zhou family's honorary officials are less than 30, it is a disaster for the country to use the privileges of honorary officials to annex the land. If the court strives to strengthen the country and the people are rich, sooner or later it will collect land and confiscate the government and implement the equalization of land. At that time, the privileges of honorary officials will not be able to protect the land."

Lu's mother was worried when she heard this. She had a high expectation of low-risk income for landing, and after Zhou's father said this, Lu Qi looked at her mother and said in a harmonious voice: "Mom, even if landing is in stock, there are big risks. We can buy less. The investment in stocking a hundred acres of fertile land should not be large, and the income is enough for us to live a frugal life. If the court's policies change, our losses will not be too great."

Lu's mother was stunned, and Zhou's father nodded and said, "Mrs. Lu, what the virtuous nephew in Tianfeng said is a good compromise method. The risk of buying fertile land for hundreds of fields is much smaller."

Lu’s mother thought for a while and nodded, “It’s good to buy 100 acres of fertile land to give us food and vegetables, which can solve a lot of expenses. Please help us choose.”

Zhou's father nodded and said, "The world is difficult and dangerous. The land price on Wangjiangpo has also dropped again and again. A hundred acres of fertile land plus a house is enough."

Lu's mother was surprised and said in surprise: "It only takes three hundred taels of fertile land to buy it."

Zhou Mu continued in harmony: "The yield of the farm is very low now. When the harvest is not available, sometimes it will be compensated for the year of owing the grain tax. Farmers are unwilling to own their own land and would rather sell it to large farmers and then rent land for tenant farmers who depend on large farmers. Therefore, the land price is very high."

Zhou's father shook his head with deep worries. The old man seemed to be very concerned about the fate of the country.

With an informed local and a transaction of cash, the Lu family easily acquired three consecutive fertile lands and bought an old house in Wangjiangbao that was no less than the city house. In comparison, the houses in the county town are more than three or four times more expensive than those in Wangjiangbao. The countryside houses are really cheap.
Chapter completed!
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