jdhmnovel Chapter 164 The Pattern Opens
Chapter 164 The Pattern Opens
Shen Mingzhu and the others could only settle down in the inn run by Zhao Yong.
Zhao Yong said embarrassedly: "Mr. Magistrate, we only have this inn here, you can settle down first, as for the house..."
Zhao Yong was embarrassed and didn't know what to say next.
He hasn't received his salary for half a year. Now that there is a county magistrate, I wonder if the salary will be paid on time?
Zhao Yong felt that he was already a very competent yamen runner.
All the other runners in the yamen were unwilling to come on duty, even the county magistrate and the chief clerk did not come. He was the only one who still held his ground.
I hope the new magistrate can give him a raise in consideration of his hard work.
There was no rice at home, but he was still waiting to get money to go home and buy rice!
Old Third Shen didn’t know what Zhao Yong was thinking, and he was speechless now.
What about being an official? Don't officials have free housing?
How come it comes to him that he has to pay for the repair of the county government office out of his own pocket? It's really depressing.
In fact, Shen Laosan is a bit stingy. His view is that one should not spend one's family's money for no reason.
At least, you shouldn't let your wife and children suffer because of others.
Shen Laosan asked Zhao Yong to notify all the officials in the county government that when they were on duty tomorrow morning, all the officials would hold a meeting in the lobby of the county government.
Zhao Yong left hesitantly, and Su asked people to settle the horses and carriages, and returned to the room to rest.
Old Third Shen paced back and forth in the room, thinking of a strategy in his mind.
Afterwards, Shen Lao San called Shen Mingzhu and Li Xuanfeng to the room to discuss countermeasures.
Li Xuanfeng had already guessed the purpose of his master calling him over, and first said:
"This place is so poor. I think our top priority is to repair the government office and the city wall."
Shen Lao San frowned and said, "But, there is no money."
What he didn't want to say was that he didn't want his family to pay for it.
Shen Mingzhu said speechlessly: "If we don't pay for the repair of the county government office now, do we have to live in the inn forever?"
"Or should I buy a new house and renovate it before living there?"
Shen Lao San's eyes lit up, and he immediately said, "We can buy a house first."
"Buy the rotten wooden house here?" Shen Mingzhu was speechless.
Old Third Shen was deflated. Looking at the current situation in the county, there would probably be no good houses to sell.
Shen Lao San finally thought about it and said, "Let's build the backyard of the county government first, so that we have a place to live."
He sighed, "No matter who you are wronged, you can never wrong my Zhuzhu!"
Shen Mingzhu chuckled and said teasingly, "Dad, are you afraid of wronging my mother?"
Shen Mingzhu's words made Shen Lao San blush, and his anxious mood was relieved a lot.
Shen Mingzhu finally gave her father an injection of sedative:
"Dad, didn't Uncle Jin give you a lot of banknotes? It shouldn't be a problem to build a backyard for the county government office, right?"
Shen Mingzhu blinked her big eyes at her father and teased him with a smile, calling him a miser.
Shen Lao San blushed and said, "It's not that I don't want to spend money to repair the house. I just think that if we spend our own money to build a house, we can only live in it for three years. It's not cost-effective."
Shen Mingzhu was speechless. "Dad, what about your awareness? Is this the awareness of you, the head of a county?"
Then, she sighed and said, "Dad, you need to open up your mind."
"Just think about it! If we develop this county, the tax revenue alone will be enormous, not to mention other things."
"You won't forget the monthly taxes from my fiefdom, right?
Shen Lao San blushed and touched his nose, smiling awkwardly:
"Well, I was joking. Boss Jin gave me 50,000 taels of silver notes. Not to mention building a county government office, even building the entire county town would be no problem."
Shen Mingzhu agreed, "That's right, Dad. Think about it! If you develop Pushuang County well, that will be your political achievement. If your political achievements are good, won't you be promoted?"
"You've been promoted, so my mother and I's status will be improved, right? What's the big deal about spending this little money?"
Shen Mingzhu would never say that there were so many gold, silver and treasures seized from the bandit’s lair in her space.
She has so much money now that she can’t spend it all, really.
For her merit, faith and luck.
She was willing to spend money to build the county government and county seat, and was willing to develop Pu Shuang County.
Because she can use money to buy faith points and luck points, get rewards from the Lord God, upgrade the system, and make her luckier.
This is a good thing that kills three birds with one stone.
However, she thought of Prince Zhuang's Mansion.
Otherwise, she would first invest money to develop Pu Shuang County, and then go to Prince Zhuang's Mansion to look for interest.
Let's keep the two wealthy families, Prince Zhuang and Grand Tutor Pang, for now and visit them later.
Using Prince Zhuang's money to develop Pushuang County, isn't that benefiting the people?
Take from the people and give back to the people. Well, you will also get faith points and luck points.
This is a good idea! When I return to the capital, I will go to Prince Zhuang's mansion first.
So, Shen Mingzhu said with sparkling eyes: "Dad, I have a lot of money, use my money first!"
Shen Lao San waved his hands repeatedly: "How can I use your money? Dad is joking with you, Dad has 50,000 taels of silver here!"
"Well, first use the fifty thousand taels of silver that your uncle Jin gave you. When this place develops well in the future and there are any business opportunities, you can ask your uncle Jin to come over and make a fortune."
Shen Mingzhu nodded and said, "That's fine. However, I have more money than I can spend. If you are short of money, you can take it from me first."
"Hey, Uncle Jin gave me a lot of money!"
Shen Mingzhu didn't say that Jin Qian gave her the entire shares of the bank, for she was afraid that her father would tremble all over.
Shen Mingzhu already had a very good plan in mind for the development of Pushuang County.
However, you can't eat hot tofu in a hurry, so she plans to take it slowly later.
The first and most important thing is to increase her father’s prestige among the people and protect Pushuang County.
The geographical location of Pushuang County here is somewhat similar to the Pu'er area in the previous life.
As for business opportunities, there are plenty of them.
Shen Mingzhu is looking forward to it!
Well, this feeling of building a county town is really great!
The next day, Shen Laosan wore the county magistrate's official uniform and brought Li Xuanfeng, Qingsong, and Shen Dong to the county government office.
Today, just like yesterday, Zhao Yong was the only one on duty at the county government office.
When Zhao Yong saw Shen Lao San coming, he immediately stepped forward and saluted.
He was very worried. Yesterday, he went to the homes of County Magistrate Zhao, Xu Zhubo, and other officials in the county government to report the situation, but County Magistrate Zhao and the others did not respond. They said they would come, but they did not.
Zhao Yong didn't know what kind of personality the new magistrate had, but Pushuang County had already been controlled by the four major families: Zhao, Xu, Sun, and Li.
Even the new county magistrate would not be able to gain a foothold in Pushuang County without the support of the four major families.
Shen Laosan had already anticipated that this would be the situation today.
He calmly asked Qingsong to bring tea and snacks, then sat leisurely in the main seat, and then asked Zhao Yong to sit down.
Zhao Yong felt restless and sat down at the bottom, not knowing what Magistrate Shen was going to do.
Shen Laosan poured a cup of tea and handed it to Zhao Yong with a very gentle attitude.
Zhao Yong hurriedly took the tea, and Shen Laosan handed Zhao Yong a plate of snacks.
Zhao Yong looked at the plate of exquisite snacks and swallowed.
He really wanted to taste a piece of this beautiful dessert, but seeing the magistrate was there, he sat on a chair, at a loss as to what to do.
Shen Laosan asked casually: "Who are the current staff members in our county government?"
"There are County Magistrate Zhao Youde, Chief Clerk Xu Tongchuan, County Lieutenant Li Guohai, Chief Constable Qiu Shaoze, and four yamen runners including me."
Shen Laosan paused with his teacup in his hand and asked, "Doesn't the county government have the staff of teaching officials, clerks, patrol inspectors, and policemen?"
"No, we only have these few people in the county government."
"So how do you usually handle cases?"
"How can we handle the case without the magistrate?"
After Zhao Yong blurted out the words, he realized that he had said the wrong thing and quickly shut up.
Shen Lao San understood it in his heart, and he said with a smile:
"Come, try the tea I brought from the capital. Well, this dessert is not bad either. It was made by my cook at home."
Mr. Shen picked up a piece of dessert and took a sip of tea, being very approachable.
Zhao Yong swallowed his saliva, and couldn't resist the temptation. He picked up a piece of cake and took a bite. It was soft, sticky and sweet, and his eyes widened.
Isn’t this pastry so delicious?
“Is it made of glutinous rice?”
"Yeah, it's made of glutinous rice."
Zhao Yong wanted to take the cakes back to his mother, but he felt a little embarrassed. Then, his face flushed, he said:
"I haven't eaten anything made with glutinous rice for many years."
Shen Lao San was slightly stunned and asked in confusion: "Is there no glutinous rice here?"
At this time, Shen Mingzhu was walking on the street with her two maids Yunqing and Yunhong, and the street was full of beggars begging for food.
There were many old people and children holding a broken bowl, looking pale and thin, squatting in the corner waiting for alms.
Beggars could be seen everywhere. When they saw Shen Mingzhu and her friends dressed in luxurious clothes, the strong beggars all came over and surrounded them.
"Good man, please give me something to eat!"
"Miss, please give me something to eat. I have been hungry for many days."
Just as Shen Mingzhu was about to ask these beggars some questions, a young man dressed in rich clothes came from the opposite direction.
The man kicked a beggar's bowl away, cursing.
"It stinks! These beggars are really ruining the mood. Spare me some time. Come on, beat him to death!"
The young man was about to have the beggar beaten to death when he suddenly saw Yun Qing and Yun Hong behind Shen Mingzhu.
His eyes lit up and he walked towards Shen Mingzhu and the others with a lustful look.