Compete for the Song Dynasty

After Wang Pang settled the affairs of his mansion, he left the mansion. He didn't go to the county government office first, but walked around the county.According to Chen Kang's account books for the dozens of businesses in the county, almost every one of them owed taxes more or less in the past two years, but most of them were the same as the situation in the tavern that Wang Pang and Yuan Ze went to: The basic house tax and land tax have never been in arrears, and the sales tax is not much owed, most of which are owed to the miscellaneous taxes.Wang Pang recalled the conversation between Chen Kang and the owner of the tavern. Chen Kang must have tried his best to get these deals.

However, the situation of a few other households in this county is quite different, among which Ruyi Restaurant is the largest household, and there are also one or two silk and satin shops and jewelry shops among these tax-evading households.Wang Pang took a special look at these households, and they were all considered large households in the county.The location of the trading store is good, the supply of goods in the store is sufficient, and there is no problem with the flow of customers and sales. Profits are also estimated.

Wang Pang looked at it for a whole morning, and he was about to go to the county government with his heart in mind.Two or three gorgeous girls came to meet him, and when these girls passed by Wang Pang, Wang Pang felt the fragrance lingering in his nostrils.Looking at these girls in red and emerald green, walking swaying in the wind, talking and laughing, you can tell that they are not girls from good families.One of the girls with a round face and big eyes said to the one walking in the middle: "You are in your early years. You said that the magistrate will leave here after the New Year, so why don't you take Miss Liu with you?"

This girl Liu is about 20 years old. Although she is considered good-looking among this group of women and has a bit of charm, if she is placed in the fireworks area of ​​the capital, she will be a second-rate or third-rate singing girl at most.Although the appearance is ordinary, the words of these girls caught Wang Pang's attention. Thinking of what Yuan Ze said just now, the county magistrate has been in the county for almost three years. Hmph, the old county magistrate Zhu must want to leave Make a fortune.

Wang Pang glanced at it from the corner of his eye, and the one walking in the middle was the singing girl from Ruyi Restaurant. The girl surnamed Liu frowned and said, "What do you know? Otherwise, why would the master not have a family member in our county? Now that he is in the county, he didn’t give me a good place to settle down, let alone leave after the new year.” She was talking, when she looked up and saw Wang.Miss Liu was stunned for a moment, this young man is really energetic, where did he see it?That day the king was downstairs, although he raised his head to say hello, but when he looked down from upstairs, he could only see a mighty figure, as for his face, he was in a daze. [

At this moment, the shopkeeper of the jewelry shop next to Wang saw Miss Liu approaching, and hurriedly greeted the customer: "The girls are here early today, are you here to accompany Miss Liu to look at jewelry again? Miss Liu , You came just in time, I just got a new product, look at this hairpin, how good it is."

Hearing that there was a new style of hairpin, several girls gathered around in a swarm.Miss Liu also forgot to see something familiar to Wang Pang, they laughed and walked past Wang Pang and entered the jewelry shop.Wang Pang slowed down, and looked into the jewelry shop as if he was busy.He was really curious, let alone in Linchuan, even if he was walking on the street in the capital, there would always be girls who would look at him more. After all, the jewelry is the best. In front of these girls, he is not as handsome as the jewelry.

Wang Pang looked into the jewelry shop, and Miss Liu was taking the hairpin that the shopkeeper handed over. She looked left and right, and tried putting the hairpin on her head again.The shopkeeper hurriedly took the bronze mirror for her to look at, and said in his mouth: "Oh, this hairpin is also suitable for Miss Liu. Look how beautiful it is?"

Miss Liu supported the hairpin and looked at herself in the mirror. The more she looked at the hairpin, the more she liked it. The girl next to her asked, "Shopkeeper, how much do you sell for this hairpin?"

The shopkeeper said with a smile, "Not much, not much, just 100 taels of silver if Miss Liu likes it."

The girl exclaimed: "What kind of hairpin costs 100 taels? It's too expensive for you?!" The shopkeeper said with a smile: "This hairpin is gilded, and the craftsmanship is very valuable. There is no second one in Linchuan. This product, and it is the latest style in Beijing this year."

A rich man like Wang Bang sounds expensive.Let alone gilt, 100 taels of silver can be exchanged for ten taels of gold.Even if it costs five taels of gold to put on the head by half and half, it will be heavy.Miss Liu said dissatisfiedly: "100 taels is too expensive, I can't afford it. 50 taels is about the same."

Wang Pang thought, this girl is so rich, why didn't she redeem herself, it's not worth buying such a hairpin for 50 taels.The shopkeeper looked embarrassed and said: "The purchase price of this hairpin is more than 50 taels, Miss Liu, you can take care of my business with a little reward..." He wanted to say something, but Miss Liu raised her eyebrows: "The shopkeeper's , your business is so good, if the county magistrate hadn’t taken care of it, I’m afraid you would have saved more than that, right?”

The shopkeeper hurriedly smiled and said, "What the girl said is, yes, yes, only 50 taels, and the rest will be my filial piety to the girl?!"

Wang Pang snorted coldly from the bottom of his heart, County Magistrate Zhu, you are not sure how much benefit you have received by doing this openly and secretly, wait for me to find out and see how I deal with you.Thinking of this, Wang Pang turned around and walked towards the county government with big strides.

Linchuan County is not a very big county, but the county government is very well-built. If you look at it alone, it is more decent than the magistrate's government office in Yanzhou.The gate of the county government office on the bluestone steps facing the street was open, and there were a few big men standing at the door who were not like thugs, and their servants were not like servants.These people wore their heads tilted, poked water and fire sticks on the ground in their hands, put their arms on one end of the stick, stood there basking in the sun, chatting, and watching the passers-by on the street.

Wang Pang stepped up the steps, and a fatter guard stopped Wang Pang: "Hey, hey, hey? What are you doing? Walk in with straight eyebrows, do you know if this is the county government office?" Wang Pang recognized it at a glance. It turned out that this fat yamen servant was one of those who went to arrest Chen Yuanwai that day. He smiled and cupped his hands and said, "My surname is Wang. I am the magistrate of the county. I came here and said that I have some errands for me to do."

The fat guard looked Wang Pang up and down: "Hehe, that's fine!" He said and patted Wang Pang's shoulder with his hands and feet. Normally, Wang Pang would have just pulled his arm and thrown it for him.But today Wang Pang could hold his breath, he smiled and said: "No, the magistrate of the county is flattered, can the officials report it?"

The fat guard pointed at Wang Pang and laughed at the crowd: "Hahaha, she is an idiot, she calls us the official!" Everyone also thought Wang Pang was stupid, so they started laughing, and the fat guard said to Wang Pang: "Brat, it's a good job for you to take over." He supported his slightly crooked head, raised his thumb and turned his hand towards the inside of the county government office and said: "The county magistrate is in the lobby, go in by yourself!"

There are really no rules in this county yamen. Some people go to the magistrate, and the guards don't care about sending a message?At this moment, Wang Pang was not interested in haggling with these soldiers and crab generals, so he went straight into the front yard of the government office.The fat guard looked at Wang's back, and said to the others: "Hey, the county magistrate is really good, where did you find such a fool!"

The skinny guard was also among these few people. He pointed to Wang Pang's back and said to the other three people: "This kid looks familiar to me! By the way, I remembered that day when our brothers went to arrest Chen Yuanwai , this kid was also there. That’s right, it’s him! Also, do you know that he was the one who beat up people in Ruyi Restaurant yesterday, and I was there to see it. Why did our county magistrate invite him here?”

The fat officer said: "What do you care about that? We will reward people we catch, and we will get a salary every month. As for collecting taxes and handling errands, it has nothing to do with my brothers." He looked up: "Yo, this It's already noon, let's go and drink." As he spoke, he left a person on duty at the door, and several people went to find a place to drink.

Wang Pang entered the county office, and the lobby of the county office was in front of it. When he approached the lobby, he heard the sound of talking and laughing inside, and there were two guards at the entrance of the lobby.Wang Pang stepped forward and said: "Beside the next king, please see the county magistrate." The guard went in to report, and after a while he came out and said to Wang Pang: "The county magistrate calls you, you go in."

Wang Pangmai stepped into the lobby of the magistrate, the magistrate was sitting behind the desk, and standing beside him was a middle-aged man dressed as a scholar, who seemed to be the teacher of the county magistrate.County magistrate Zhu saw Wang Pang coming, he sat there and greeted: "Haha, Mr. Wang is here. Please sit down, Mr. Wang!" He pointed to a chair on the side of the hall. [

Wang Pang scolded in his heart, the dog officer is still putting on airs, and he doesn't welcome the master when he comes.He was cursing in his heart, but with a smile on his face: "Thank you, Mr. County, I have just returned to Linchuan after being away for many years, and I don't know the rules in this county, so I ask County Magistrate Zhu to give me some pointers." The county magistrate smiled dryly Twice, then raised his face and said: "Come here! Bring Chen Kang up!"

Wang Pang became suspicious, how could Chen Kang be in the county government office?Not long after, with the shouts of the guards, Chen Kang was escorted to the lobby.

Chen Kang, who had just returned to the gate of the mansion yesterday, was about to take the key to open the gate from his waist when he was beaten violently from behind, and then he was taken directly back to the county government office.The person who beat Chen Kang also filed a complaint against Chen Kang, saying that Chen Kang was provoking trouble in the Ruyi Restaurant, and Zhang San and others witnessed it.The county magistrate had just returned from a drink in the restaurant, full of wine and food, and in a happy mood, he dropped the order sign and said: "Twenty big boards, bet on it!"

Chen Kang is in a mess now, he was cold and hungry all night, his face and body are covered with bruises, his buttocks are covered with a board, and the blood is sticking his clothes to the wound, and every movement will involve the wound.He grinned and was brought up.When he saw that Wang Pang was sitting there, he was immediately startled. Could it be that Mr. Wang and the county magistrate were in collusion?