Tang's dining table

When Yunchu returned to Wannian County, the county government office was in a state of bleakness. Even the official documents on the notice walls on both sides of the government office were torn off, shivering in the breeze under the scorching sun.

The bright white sunlight shone on the ground. After some water stains were evaporated, a faint trace of soot was left behind. Two gatekeepers stood drowsily in the shadow under the gate, holding water and fire sticks in their hands.

A crisp sound of horse hoofbeats suddenly appeared at the empty yamen gate. The maroon horse snorted impatiently, and the two drowsy yamen servants immediately woke up. The snorting sound was too familiar to them.

When the gatekeeper saw that the county lord was back, he happily opened the door to the maximum position, took the reins of the county lord's war horse, and urged the servants to quickly boil water for the county lord to wash himself.

When Yun Chu came back, the county government office, which had been as quiet as death, immediately came to life, and the officials immediately returned to their busy appearance.

After Yun Chu washed his hair and face with warm water, before he could dry his hair, the county magistrate, the chief registrar, and officials from six caotangs filled the room.

Yun Chu sat in the middle with his hair disheveled. He looked at Mr. Liu and said, "Are you anxious?"

Chief Secretary Liu said with a smile: "With the absence of the county magistrate, the subordinates have no support in their hearts. Now that you are back, everything will be fine."

"Hahaha, is it because there is no money in the warehouse that you have no confidence?"

Zhang Jia forced out an ugly smile and said: "Seven hundred thousand gu of silver was spent in just three months. Master Liu followed the order of the county magistrate and didn't keep a single penny. From now on, How should I live my life?"

Yun Chu looked at Mr. Liu and smiled: "Is it true that you didn't keep any money?"

Master Liu smiled and said: "Although we have spent 700,000 yuan in the past three months, our Wannian County still has new interest rates that have not been recovered. If you are willing to make an effort, we can The water money in Qujiang River, the sanitation fee in Chang'an City, the money for land leased to merchants, the pollution fee for the large caravans' mules and horses entering the city, the security money for various grain stores, tea houses, inns, and taverns, Pingkangfang The money spent on peach... If we collect it, it won’t be a problem to support the brothers’ salary.”

Yun Chu grabbed a handful of hair that had become wet again, and Master Liu immediately stepped forward to wipe it with a towel.

Yunchu said to the other officials: "Didn't the chief registrar speak out? Please take back all our money."

Zhang Jia and others were overjoyed when they heard this. In the past, the money could only be collected by the subordinates. Now that it has been handed over to them, there will naturally be new ways to collect it.

The county magistrate came back, but he didn’t have the money to take care of him. This was absolutely unacceptable. He wanted to collect all kinds of money for half a year to see if the county magistrate would get angry. If the county magistrate didn’t get angry, Zhang Jia thought he could collect money for a year first. Let’s talk about it later.

After everyone in the yamen had left, Yunchu said to Chief Liu, "Tell me, if you have something you want to avoid telling others."

Master Liu put away the towel in his hand, bowed his waist and said, "Your Majesty, Mr. Cui is willing to buy our jingshe at No. 1, Zhuque Street."

Yun Chu shook his head and said: "No, No. 1 is the place of spiritual cultivation that I plan to give to the old immortal. Besides, the Cui family is not afraid of violating taboos when they want a monastery?"

Master Liu nodded and said: "I want the best for the old immortal. The Cui family's concierge can't compete with the old immortal. The Cui family is willing to have the second best."

Yun Chu looked at Chief Liu's old face and sighed: "I don't know how much benefit you have gained from Cui's family, and you are willing to speak for their family like this.

Forget it, you, Old Liu, have served me for many years in Wannian County and are considered capable of doing things. I will give you this face and tell Mrs. Cui that I will credit the county government with 100,000 yuan, and I can give him No. 2 Jingshe. "

Chief Secretary Liu said with a smile: "Thank you for your respect, the county official. I will go and inform Mrs. Cui to get the money and wait for the yard to be taken over."

Yun Chu smiled and said, "Don't you think this is me opening my mouth like a lion?"

Chief Secretary Liu smiled and said: "Cui wanted Xiaguan to get a result from the county magistrate. Didn't Xianguan get it? As for whether he is noble or not, it's Cui's business. Is it possible that Xianguan, the county chief for ten thousand years, wants to eat both inside and outside? Can’t we help them suppress our own interest rates?”

Yun Chu smiled and said, "Forget it, you old fox. I'll let you show your face in front of Mrs. Cui to the end. Tell Mrs. Cui that this is the only house that you can live in directly by paying for it. There is no possibility in the future."

Chief Liu said with a smile: "I will remember it."

When Yunchu saw Master Liu leaving lightly, he returned to the desk and looked at the piles of documents with worry.

After leaving the county magistrate's office, Master Liu returned to his own office and put on his regular clothes. He held a folding fan, a specialty of Chang'an, and opened it with a swish, revealing the ink landscape on the fan. He walked around and shook the fan in his hand. For the folding fan, I went to the most famous Yuquan Pavilion in Dongshi.

Yuquan Pavilion is a restaurant for drinking and dining. It has always only entertained dignitaries. Therefore, the two maids standing at the door to greet the guests are also very beautiful and have well-proportioned figures. Unlike the maids at the door of Pingkangfang, who have large breasts. It looked like it had been beaten and swollen, and it was full of kitsch.

A person like Chief Secretary Wannian is flattering and willing to flatter in front of Yun Chu. As long as he leaves the official office, only others will be left to flatter him.

Yunchu's iron-fisted approach has raised the status of Wannian County officials and minor officials to a very high level. Although they are not of high rank, they can directly visit the Duke's Mansion, the General's Mansion, and the Embassy and Post Office to ask for money. People with various taxes and fees cannot afford to offend them. Once they are rejected, they will lose their temper. In the end, it will definitely be these high-ranking people who suffer.

It wasn't like this before, but when Yunchu ordered that the area around a wealthy family that offended him be transformed into a night incense collection point, a temporary garbage storage place, and even a seepage pit not far from the family's well, no one was willing Offended them.

Master Liu was in a very happy mood. He put his hands behind his back, and the folding fan gently slapped his back with the wind. As he climbed up the stairs, he recited: "Jade Ruyi, commanding so suavely, everyone is shocked when he sits down; Jin "Poluo, pour it down and drip with it, you won't get drunk even after a thousand cups."

The waiter who welcomed Mr. Liu upstairs was very suspicious that what Mr. Liu was reciting was an excellent piece of writing. But he didn’t know that Mr. Liu had learned it from the county magistrate. When the county magistrate was drunk at a party with them, chanted.

As long as the poems come from the mouth of a first-class romantic person like the County Lord, they are naturally excellent. Master Liu suspected that the County Lord might have forgotten them after he was drunk and recited such words.

Therefore, he would take it out and recite it from time to time. No matter who asked questions or complimented him on how well he recited, he would smile and say nothing.

However, he recited these lines of poetry more frequently, and several times he recited it in front of the county magistrate, who even praised him for his good recitation.

A person like Master Liu, who climbed from a lowly official to a high position step by step, was not qualified to meet Cui's son.

Now that the county official is back, he is qualified.

When entering the private room, Master Liu tried his best to show himself as a scholar rather than an official. He felt that only in this way could the Cui family, a thousand-year-old Chinese family, look up to him.

So he entered the private room with a smile, saluted Cui Mian, the young master of the Cui family, with one hand across from him, and then naturally placed his butt on the brocade couch opposite Cui Mian.

Cui reluctantly endured the unhappiness in his heart and looked at a group of petty officials sitting on the brocade couch opposite him. He picked up the teapot on the small stove and poured a cup of tea for Mr. Liu, saying: "I don't know. What do you think, when the county magistrate learns what I, Mrs. Cui, want?"

Master Liu held the tea cup and said: "The county minister agreed, but it's not the first number A, but the second number A."

Cui Mian sat upright and asked with a smile: "But I don't know who the number one family is, so that my Cui family can only take a back seat?"

Master Liu smiled and said: "Master Cui, please don't be angry. The No. 1 Jingshe is the residence left to the Immortal Sun by our county lord. No one else can touch it."

When Cui Mian heard this, the look of confusion on his face immediately faded away, and he said with a smile: "Is it really the old immortal's immortal residence?"

Master Liu said: "My county magistrate never deceives others. Besides, it is disrespectful to the old immortal to attack him."

Cui Mian smiled and said: "It is Cui's honor to be next to the old immortal. How about we go to the county Yamen Cao to complete the formalities now?"

Master Liu smiled and said, "Master, why don't you ask about the price?"

Cui Mian shook his head and said: "No need. Mr. Liu can submit as many fancy figures as he wants. Mr. Cui will accept them all."

Master Liu shook his head and said, "Young master, you'd better listen to the quotation from my county magistrate before considering anything else."

Cui Mian smiled and said, "Tell me and listen."

Master Liu sat up straight, leaned forward slightly, looked at Cui Mian and said, "My county magistrate said, one hundred thousand guan, no matter the price."

When he heard the figure of one hundred thousand guan, Cui Mian was well-educated and did not get angry immediately, nor did he lose his composure as a disciple of a wealthy family. Instead, he added tea to Mr. Liu and said: "Your Excellency, County Yun, are you bullying me, Mr. Cui?" Cowardly and incompetent?"

Master Liu shook his head and said: "My county magistrate will never deceive anyone in any transaction involving money. This kind of thing happened often in the past. We thought that a place that could be sold for just a few hundred coins was forced by my county magistrate." The asking price was in the thousands, and as a result, some brave people bought it.'

As a result, within a year, the people we thought were fools at first turned out to be extremely courageous and talented people. The place we bought at a high price turned out to be a good place to make money every day.

Therefore, all those who deal with money in my county feel like they are taking a breath of fresh air. "

Cui Mian laughed angrily and said, "Do you know how much money one hundred thousand guan is?"

Master Liu smiled and said: "In three months, the money that has flowed out of my hands has exceeded 700,000 yuan.

A mere hundred thousand guan is really not worth mentioning, so this opportunity is only given by the county magistrate because of the good service he has given to a certain family for many years.

If Mr. Cui doesn't want this place, a certain family will go to the Zheng family's house to inquire. "

Cui Mian put away his anger, looked at Master Liu with a half-smile and said, "Do you think Zheng can buy it if Cui doesn't buy it?"

Master Liu shook his head and said: "I can't guarantee this, but I must make it clear that if Cui doesn't want this land and wants it elsewhere in the future, he will have to fight for it with everyone.

As Mr. Cui, is it possible that he is willing to crowd together with a group of merchants and bid for purchases? "

"Who will buy it?" Cui Mian felt that his patience was almost reaching its limit.

Master Liu said: "For the families listed in the "Chronicles" designated by Emperor Taizong, as for officials to purchase them, they need to be from families with a fifth-rank official or above."

Cui Mian stood up and said, "A certain family knows about it."

After saying that, he stood up and left the private room, not even bothering to say another word to Chief Liu.

Master Liu sat on the brocade couch with peace of mind, drank the pot of good tea, then picked up the folding fan and stood up and chanted: "Jade Ruyi, commanding so suavely, everyone is shocked when he sits down; Jin Boluo , pouring down dripping with water, I’m still not drunk after a thousand cups.”

Chapter One