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Chapter 409
Seeing Zhou Zhou showing a pensive look.

The other party continued: "You should think about it carefully. If you figure it out, just come to the county guard's mansion and look for Lin Sima."

After finishing speaking, the other party was about to turn around, Zhou Zhou stepped forward and said, "May I ask if your Excellency is Lin Sima?"

"Exactly."

Zhou Zhou cupped his hands and said, "I've been taught."

Lin Dangfeng smiled and said: "I know you have aspirations to become famous. This time, Lulong County of Beiping County has a vacancy in the county department. You also know that Beiping County is a lower county. It belongs to only one county, with a population of less than ten thousand and poor people. The folk customs are tough and difficult to govern, and the county prime minister is no more than the sixth rank, and the county department is only engaged in the ninth rank, and there is very little hope of promotion in the future, so everyone is reluctant to go, I wonder if you are willing to give in?"

Zhou Zhou heard the words and said: "When I was young, I made up my mind. Being an official is not for promotion. I will benefit the people of the Li people at the top, and develop my ambitions at the bottom. What about working in the county department? It is good to be able to do things for the people."

Seeing Zhou Zhou's agreement, Lin Dangfeng laughed secretly in his heart, he just played a trick, deliberately made the matter extremely difficult, in order to arouse the opponent's ambition.

Lin Dangfeng laughed loudly, and said: "You stubborn donkey, you just won't let it go, and you will be beaten backwards. If you can be honest and honest, you must be the first in the county test. In Zhuojun, Ren Zhengqi Wouldn't the job of quality be far better than today. It's a pity, it's a pity."

Zhou Zhou also laughed out loud when he heard the words, and asked: "If that's the case, it's not me Zhou Zhou, Lin Sima, I heard that Lord Shanggu wants to set up a Navy Commander's Mansion in Beiping County, and merge it with Yanshan by the sea to set up another county. Beiping County is also a place to flex its muscles, dare to ask me when I will take up my post?"

Lin Dangfeng nodded and said, "Tomorrow, you can go to the Sheriff's Mansion to get the official seal of approval."
The next day, Zhou Zhou received the official seal in the county guard's mansion, and there was also a settling allowance of the usual money.Zhou Zhou received the money, and now he brought his mother to the wharf in the south of Jixian County. He spent dozens of dollars on a merchant ship transporting porcelain from Jixian County to Yongnu County, and went straight down the Yongji Canal to Yongji County. Slave County.

After arriving in Yongnu County, Zhou Zhou and his mother stayed overnight at a station along the way.Zhou Zhou and his mother ate the meals at the station.Zhou Zhou casually asked a postman, "Is there any boat that can take me to Beiping County?"

The postman glanced at Zhou Zhou, and asked with a smile: "Going to Beiping County, how dare you ask whether you are going to the county government or the county government?"

"What's the difference?" Zhou Zhou asked back.

The postman said with a smile: "You don't know about this. Although the Beiping County Sheriff's Mansion is in Lulong County, the sheriff and the Sheriff's Mansion are permanent residents in the management of the salt field and the navy. Sancha River Estuary, so you are going to Lulong County to take up your post, but you have nothing to do. If you want to go to the county government to take up your post, you can get there in a day or two by a salt boat along Jixian County and Sancha River Estuary. If you go to Lulong County, you can get there It is time to take the official road, which was newly repaired last year, but it is still difficult to walk tightly, and the road often breaks and the bridge collapses when there is a flood."

Zhou Zhou couldn't help being overjoyed when he heard the words, his mother was old and couldn't bear the journey, so it would be best if she could take a boat.After Zhou Zhou took ten copper coins to thank Yi Ding, he slept all night.

The next day, Zhou Zhou was at the wharf of Yongnu County, and without much effort, he was loaded onto a salt boat that was returning from Ji County to the mouth of the Sancha River.When the captain of the boat heard that he was a new member of the county department, he was in awe and did not ask for a boat fee, so he directly took Zhou Zhou's mother and son to the mouth of the Sancha River.

For the county department, he is unattainable in the eyes of the common people. The boss of the boat wants to make friends, and the reception is good wine and meat.

Zhou Zhou also planned to learn about the local people in Beiping County through the other party. He heard from the boss of the ship that after the establishment of a new salt field last year, the preparation of the Naval Commander's Mansion, and the completion of the three official roads from Lulong County to Yongnu County, the Governor of Youzhou The mansion was overjoyed, and immediately promoted Zhou Bo, the county magistrate, from the sixth-rank county magistrate to the fourth-rank county magistrate.

This rapid promotion, and Zhou Bo's background as a merchant, has become a talking point for promotion in the officialdom.

However, Zhou Zhou was not very interested in this promotion in the officialdom, he just asked: "How many salt boats are there every day between Ji County and Sancha River mouth."

The boatman laughed and said: "When the saltworks first opened, it was not easy to have one every five or six days, but as the number of people in the saltworks increased, the daily salt production also increased. Half a year ago, there was always one every three or four days, and three months ago. In the past, there was one every two days, but now there is almost one every day, of course you know, it also depends on the fine weather.”

Zhou Zhou made up his mind and said, "Isn't it true that hundreds of tans of salt are transported to Ji County every day?"

The boat boss said proudly: "That's right. In the past, I used salt in Zhuojun, either from Yanshan and Haiyan in Bohai County, or from Luyan in Hedong. After the war with Li Tang, Li Tang cut off the passage from Luyan to Zhuojun. But the salt price in our Zhuo County has not risen but has fallen, because we rely on the sea salt at the mouth of our Sancha River."

"Haha, now we are not only self-sufficient in sea salt in Zhuo County, but also transported to Huaihuang and Yuyi Towns. You also know that the barbarians outside the Great Wall need salt and iron the most. Salt is transported from Ji County to the grasslands. Just changing hands is enough to buy a big house in Ji County. I heard that the salt merchants in Zhuo County have made a lot of money this year. It’s not like those of us who run boats earn hard money. We can only drink and drink with others Soup."

Zhou Zhou heard that he had a general understanding of Beiping County. He thought that Beiping County, like Yuyang and Anle County, was a poor and sparsely populated rural area, so the officials were afraid of it and did not want to go there. Sure enough, officials did not meet Ji department.But right now, it seems that Beiping County is not what it used to be because of its salt production. In the long run, Beiping County is a place where it can flex its muscles.

After Zhou Zhou chatted with the boat boss for a few more words, he went back to his cabin. His mother felt a little seasick and couldn't eat, which made him quite worried, so he stayed by the bed all night.

After arriving at the mouth of the Sancha River the next day, Zhou Zhou felt relieved that his mother was fine.Walking out of the cabin, it was already afternoon, under the bright sunshine, the water waves on the river were floating, and the pier was busy.

In front of the cargo warehouse at the wharf, barebacked batons are carrying sacks of salt on board the ship. The merchant ship’s men are counting the cargo. In the nearby dock, the sound of hammering on wood is heard, and the sawdust floats along the river. Downstream, there is a scene of fiery shipbuilding. Not far away, there are five or six warships practicing on the river, and there are returning fishing boats returning from Haikou with high black sails.

Zhou Zhou smelled the fresh river wind, but felt the completely different atmosphere when he was studying in the county school on weekdays.On weekdays, I hang my head on the beam and awl my buttocks to read and bury my head in the book case, but I seldom come to the outdoors to see the vast world.Today he couldn't help but feel refreshed.

The world is in war, and the princes of the four directions are thinking about how to stabilize the territory and restore the prosperity of the early years of the great cause of the Sui Dynasty. But here, in this newly-emerged port, Zhou Zhou feels a vigorous vitality.A year ago, this was still a small fishing village.

I think that in the article I was still in the county examination, I criticized Li Chongjiu for selling salt and iron, and for giving the power of the river to the merchants, allowing the merchants to control the lifeline of the country.It is a great evil for a businessman to buy and sell something without buying anything, so he can't add anything. This is a great evil. Therefore, all dynasties have suppressed business.

But the reality gave him a slap in the face. Looking at the wharf at the mouth of the Sancha River, and then thinking beyond the Great Wall, I heard that Huaihuang, the second town of Yuyi, which is extremely prosperous, was built by Lin Dangfeng, Zhou Bo and other Youzhou merchants. Could it be that The ambition of Shanggu Gong, who was born in a poor family like him, is not only to restore the old view of the great cause, but even the rule of three generations that Confucian scholars highly respect. His ambition is to create an unprecedented prosperity.

This idea just flashed across Zhou Zhou's mind, and he immediately thought how could this be possible, the rule of the Three Dynasties was a prosperous age that even Confucius admired, if Li Chongjiu could achieve this, wouldn't he become a saint.

Zhou Zhou and his mother went ashore together, found a random passerby, and asked the location of the Sheriff's Mansion, and Zhou Zhou went to the Sheriff's Mansion first.

Along the way, this small fishing village in the past is full of old and new houses. Salt workers, boat builders, fishermen, merchants, sailors, county officials, and their families live together. There are about 6000 to [-] people No wonder Beiping County applied to the governor's office of Youzhou to establish a new county at the mouth of the Sancha River.

When he arrived at the Sheriff's Mansion, Zhou Zhou couldn't help being surprised. The Sheriff's Mansion was obviously rebuilt from an ancestral hall, even worse than a county government office in Zhuo County.

After the notification, he entered the door, but the door official told Zhou Junshou to go to the salt field to inspect, and asked him to sit down.

When it was almost nightfall, Zhou Zhou was worried about his mother and was about to leave, when Zhou Bo came back looking dusty.Zhou Zhou sized up the governor of Zhou, who was born in a merchant, but saw that he was not good-looking, and he did not have the scholarly and elegant aura he had seen in the past.

This Zhou Junshou looked like salted fish, but he was shrewd and capable.The other party looked at Zhou Zhou's papers and said with a smile, "It's great to be another family member. He is also a talented man. I am short of a scholar like you in Beiping County."

Zhou Zhou said modestly, "How dare, how dare."

Zhou Bo, the governor of the county, said with a smile: "You still don't believe it. When other officials heard that they were coming to Beiping to serve as officials, they all claimed to be sick, and those who kept filial piety kept their filial piety. They didn't say anything. That's us marketers, and those rude Hans are here."
Zhou Zhou couldn't help laughing at Zhou Bo's self-deprecating, and said: "The governor of Zhou is smart and capable, not to mention a marketer, but an ordinary scholar, he is far inferior. Looking at the changes in the mouth of the Sancha River, I will sigh for the vicissitudes of life."

Zhou Zhou's words can be said from the heart. Looking at the earth-shaking changes in Sanchahekou in less than a year, he has always boasted very high, and he also believes that he can't do it.

Zhou Bo heard Zhou Zhou's words, and said with a smile: "I'm being immodest when you say that. A year ago, this was just a small fishing village with hundreds of people, with no traffic, and no news of the world's change of ownership. One year, you can see that the prosperity here is no less than that of Yanshan County in Bohai Sea."

"If you want to say that in the future, I dare to pat my chest and be far away from you. This is not only me, but also Shanggu's ambition. We want to impress the world. Do you dare to make a bet with me? Three years later, here will be another A Jiangdu."

(End of this chapter)