Liao Zhai Great Kind People

Chapter 60 It's Unfortunate
Jinhua Prefecture has eight counties under its jurisdiction, with a population of one million and abundant rice and grain. However, the Qiantang River, Ou River, and Jiao River converge in the region, causing frequent floods.

The flood this time was unprecedented in a century, causing 10,000+ people to be displaced. The local rich and gentry colluded with the government and took the opportunity to wantonly annex the land, causing anger and resentment for a while.

After the two small-scale uprisings were suppressed, the people gradually became numb and lost the will to resist, which made the local gentry and local tyrants even more arrogant.

Pang Tong and others did not report the news, so the disaster did not reach the capital at all, leaving only a mess to be cleaned up.

This is also one of the reasons why they strongly recommended Zhang Xiu to come to Jinhua as the magistrate.

As long as Zhang Xiu failed to manage the disaster well, they could immediately question Zhang Xiu, not to mention sending him to jail and beheading him, at least they could cut off his official career.

At that time, they will completely solve the disaster in the court.

Zhang Xiu didn't know anything about these.

After arriving at the Yamen of Jinhua Mansion, Zhang Xiu settled nearly ten thousand refugees near the Yamen, and soon received more than a dozen invitations and gifts from gentry from all over the place.

Zhang Xiu accepted everyone's gifts with a smile, but returned the invitations one by one, leaving everyone in the yamen confused.

Soon, those who came to send invitations also returned home one after another, and were questioned by their masters.

The largest squire in the area, known as the home of Jin Wuwang in Jin Bancheng.

Seeing the housekeeper who came back with a mournful face, Jin Wuwang frowned and asked, "Why did the invitation come back? Could it be that the magistrate who came this time is an upright official? Or does he have any opinions on this master?"

Hearing this, the butler showed a strange expression: "That's not true. The No. [-] scholar kept all the congratulatory gifts from everyone, and it seemed that he never refused. But he returned all the invitations."

After hearing this, Jin Wuwang was amazed: "This is really strange, can you see what this old man means?"

The housekeeper hesitated for a while, and said, "Master Zhang seems to think that we don't give enough money. When his bearded nurse was seeing off the guests, he yelled loudly, saying that we are sending beggars away."

Jin Wuwang: "..."

Who wants to make money when they are newcomers, what kind of person is this!
After being silent for a while, Jin Wuwang came back to his senses, waved his hands dumbfounded, and said, "Take the 1 taels of silver and send it to the yamen, and then tell Mr. Liu, Mr. Li and the others, and say, Mr. I'm going to have a banquet in the Zhuangyuan Building tonight. Prefect, let everyone see who our new champion is!"

After a long while, counting the banknotes sent by the gentry one after another, Zhang Xiu's face was beaming with joy, and he showed off to Yanfeng: "See, the whole 10 taels can be made into a quilt!"

Yan Feng squinted and said: "If you make a quilt, you won't be able to sleep for a few days. This is life-saving money for ordinary people to buy food."

Zhang Xiu was not annoyed when he heard the words, and said with a smile: "Jinhua Mansion should not be short of food. After all, the weather here has been good for ten years, and it must have accumulated a lot of food. If the former magistrate hadn't sold the official food, the government's food should have already accumulated. It's become a mountain."

After Zhang Xiu came to the government office, he went to the granary immediately, wanting to open the granary to release grain.

But when he got there, he found that the granary was empty. After asking, he found out that the former magistrate had been killed for selling official grain, which made room for him.

However, the lack of food in the government does not mean that the local gentry have no food. Zhang Xiu turned his mind and reached out to them.

Seeing that the time was about the same, Zhang Xiu got into the sedan chair, dispatched a guard of honor from the Yamen, and headed towards the Zhuangyuan Building with great fanfare.

At the front of the guard of honor, two signs were held.

The one on the left reads "Living in the world", and the one on the right reads "Get promoted and get rich", blatantly passing through the market with gongs and drums.

Upstairs with the number one scholar, Jin Wuwang looked at the guard of honor of the magistrate coming towards him, and said with a dull expression: "It is often said that a new official takes office three times, but the words and deeds of this new number one scholar are really...really fresh and refined!"

At this time, a fat man with a smile on his face laughed out loud, stroked his goatee, and said, "Brother Jin, shouldn't we go down to meet this Lord Qingtian?"

Jin Wuwang nodded, and led seven or eight rich men downstairs, and stood at the door, standing respectfully in a row.

When the sedan chair landed, Zhang Xiu opened the door curtain and walked out. Looking at the people who were greeted by the door, she said dissatisfiedly, "There is no red carpet on the ground, are you looking down on me?"

The fat man with the goatee stepped forward immediately, flatteringly said: "There is no reason for Master Qingtian to walk on his own, the grass people will carry you!" He bowed down as if he wanted Zhang Xiu to lie on his back appearance.

Zhang Xiu was amused, and asked: "You are clever, what's your name, I can take care of you when I am free in the future."

Fatty's eyes lit up, he turned around, helped Zhang Xiu to the front of the building, and said: "Li Fugui, a grassroots man, is really lucky to be able to enter the eyes of Master Qingtian!"

At this time, Jin Wuwang and others reported their names one after another, and a group of people followed Zhang Xiu to the second floor of the Zhuangyuan Building.

After drinking for three rounds, several people each confided their own goals.

Some want the Meishan Mountain in the south of Jinhua, and some want to build bridges and roads and collect tolls from the people.

Zhang Xiu, on the other hand, would not refuse anyone who came with a smile, and clearly marked the price, asking them to use grain as a bargaining chip to bid against each other, saying that no one cheats, and the highest price wins, and he signed a pledge with them.

After a banquet, the guests and hosts had a great time, and in a warm atmosphere, Zhang Xiuhuan was sent out.

After Zhang Xiu's sedan chair walked away, Li Fugui stroked his goatee and said with a smile, "Looking at our newly appointed Lord Qingtian, it's easy to get along with, um, as long as the money is in place."

Jin Wuwang glanced at him lightly and said, "Don't be fooled by his money-grubbing appearance, this magistrate is a shrewd man. If I'm not wrong, he wants us to bid for food just to appease the refugees. "

"He clearly understands that only if his official position is preserved can he continue to be greedy, otherwise everything will be rootless duckweed and it won't last long."

Li Fugui smiled: "It doesn't matter if he is smart or not, as long as we can reap the benefits, it's okay to give him some!"

Jin Wuwang felt reasonable when he heard the words, and couldn't help showing a smile.

At this moment, his housekeeper ran over in a hurry and shouted loudly: "Master, something is wrong, our house is flooded, please go back and have a look!"

Jin Wuwang frowned: "Go to put out the fire when it's on fire. Why come to me? A small fire can burn our huge family business down?"

The housekeeper said anxiously: "It...it can really work! Our family's food burned out in the blink of an eye, master, please go back and have a look!"

Jin Wuwang's face changed suddenly, he hurriedly bowed to the others, and said goodbye: "There is something at home, let's meet again in the future!" After speaking, he hurriedly ran towards the house with the housekeeper.

Seeing this, Li Fugui couldn't help laughing: "Brother Jin, he is usually leisurely and leisurely. I thought nothing could change his color. I didn't expect that when it comes to his own family, he is no different from ordinary people!"

A skinny man smiled and said, "Stop making sarcastic remarks here, and try if your house is on fire."

Li Fugui smiled slightly: "You crow mouth, how could it be such a coincidence, even my family..."

Before he finished speaking, a young man dressed as a servant rushed over and shouted at Li Fugui from a distance: "Master, it's bad, our house is flooded!"

Li Fugui: "..."

Is it really such a coincidence? !

(End of this chapter)