Be a master through ancient times

After eating an exquisite meal, Chu Ci and Zhang Wenhai bid farewell to Zhao Kuan.After the two of them left the restaurant, they saw Zhang Hu leaning on the carriage, staring at the old man Shale who was drawing sugar figurines.

Seeing the two people coming, he immediately jumped out of the carriage, took out the footstool and let them get into the carriage.

"Dahu, have you eaten yet?" Fangcai Chuci gave Zhang Hu some broken silver and asked him to order a few dishes nearby.

Zhang Hu nodded: "I ate it, but master, I didn't buy it myself, but the people in that building gave it to me. The food inside is really delicious!" I am happy to eat something delicious, but I don't understand the complexity of it at all.

Chu Ci didn't say anything about him, after all, he ate everything, but he still taught Zhang Hu seriously not to eat what strangers gave him.After Zhang Hu nodded obediently, Chu Ci was relieved.This can't be blamed on Du Hu, it can only show that Zhao Kuan's methods of winning people's hearts are superb, even a seemingly insignificant groom has to show favor.It's a pity that what he met was Zhang Hu, who always only cared about eating, but the good things were for his master.

When the two got into the carriage, the horse started to gallop.This auspicious building is some distance away from the Tixue Division, so the time on the way was wasted. Chuci decided to take a look at the conditions given by Zhao Kuan. If the conditions can be fulfilled, he will go to the magistrate again.Although the magistrate had an ambiguous attitude towards him, he still didn't dare to lose the chain when it comes to such important matters of people's livelihood.

The light in the carriage was a bit dim, Zhang Wenhai lifted the curtain on one side and hung it aside, and only through the afterglow of the setting sun could he see the content on the paper clearly.

After reading the first article, Zhang Wenhai became very angry. He said angrily, "Isn't this request too much? He just went to grab it!"

Chu Ci reassured: "Wen Hai, don't be impatient. Let's continue to read."

When Zhang Wenhai saw it, he suddenly felt ashamed. Brother Chu was so flattered and humiliated, which is the true nature of a scholar, and he should not have done so.Thinking of this, he held his patience and continued to look down.

However, the latter terms were not very good. The more he looked at it, the more angry he became, and his eyes became rounder and rounder. Just as he was having an attack, Chu Ci said to him, "Okay, you can be angry now."

Zhang Wenhai, who was originally angry like a puffer fish, couldn't laugh or cry after hearing this sentence. The aura all over his body seemed to have been poked by a needle, and disappeared inexplicably.

He said: "Brother Chu, this old man Zhao Kuan is too deceitful! We don't agree to his request, and we won't cooperate with him in the business of Yurong Wan!"

Chu Ci smiled: "Then you have been talking with him for so many days, isn't it a waste of time?"

"If you waste a little time to see his true face, that's okay. Look at the requirements he wrote. The first one is that once the wharf is built, the government must exempt him from taxes for all shops in Zhangzhou Mansion for three years. Taxation is strictly controlled, and a giant businessman like him has an unusually large number of shops, if all the state capitals funded by him to build wharves give him tax exemption, wouldn’t he take advantage of the court?" Zhang Wenhai is like those Like a scholar who has never set foot in the officialdom, his heart is still black and white. He immediately expressed complete disapproval of Zhao Kuan's behavior of clearly "sweeping socialist wool".

Of course, Chu Ci's thoughts were similar to his, but he was not that angry.And he analyzed it, if this condition is put on the table of the magistrate, there is a nine out of ten probability that he will agree.

why?The reason is very simple.

First, the wharf is a shining achievement.The magistrate's term of office changes every three years. Lu Zhifu has been in Zhangzhou Prefecture for two years. Being able to give him such a gift that is beneficial to the people's livelihood during this tenure is equivalent to a promotion is just around the corner. Can he not be tempted? ?

Secondly, after the completion of the wharf, it will bring about a leap in economic development. By then, the exempted tax can be recovered from these new businessmen.As for what to do after the new dock effect cools down, that will be left to the next magistrate to worry about.

Seeing that Chu Ci was silent, Zhang Wenhai felt a little anxious. He said, "Brother Chu, his following requests are also very rude. For example, he said that all Yurong pills must be sold to him, and no one is allowed to be sold except for the government's own use." If he does this, how can the small merchants in Zhangzhou prefecture survive by selling goods at different prices? Also, he only pays one-third of the money for the construction of the wharf, and the rest must be funded by the government or donated locally. In this way First of all, he has taken all the benefits, not to mention gaining a good reputation, why not say that he only suggested that we should handle the rest?"

Chu Ci understood Zhang Wenhai's resentment towards Zhao Kuan from Zhang Wenhai's continuous complaints.Go on, I'm afraid he's going to explode.Chu Ci interrupted him in time and asked, "Wen Hai, you just watched it for so long, did you really not find anything?"

Zhang Wenhai looked puzzled, and took out the papers to look at them again. When he read them for the third time, he suddenly showed surprise, as if he had discovered something.

Chu Ci said: "It seems that you have also found out. This contract was drawn up by Zhao Kuan long before we went to the appointment. It is obvious that you were only talking about the business of Yurong Pill with him before."

"This old fox, he has calculated everything we want to say!" Zhang Wenhai was shocked and angry, and when he thought of Zhao Kuan's harmless appearance to humans and animals, he shuddered.

"Yeah, he expected that I would go to the appointment, he also expected what I might say, and even our current reaction, he probably also expected it." Chu Ci twitched the corners of his mouth, it seemed that Zhao Kuan was really not simple.

"Brother Chu, let's stop cooperating with him. The business of Yurong Pill is so good that it's the same to anyone!" Zhang Wenhai didn't want him to be complacent.

"Oh, I'm afraid we have to cooperate now." Chu Ci chuckled, but his eyes were as cold as ice, and there was no smile at all.

"why?"

"The reason why he let us discover his scheming is just to make us afraid. If we don't agree, I'm afraid this contract will be directly submitted to the prefect's desk. At that time, prefect Lu will definitely agree. At his request, we fell into a passive position."

Zhang Wenhai still doesn't understand, even if the prefect Lu agrees to build a wharf and exempt taxes, it is impossible to intervene in their business.

Seeing that he still didn't quite understand, Chu Ci kindly explained: "Obviously, the business of Yurong Pills is handed over to your Zhang family's staff, but in fact, neither the ingredients nor the operation can escape the supervision of Ti Xuesi. We all know that the Tixue Division is only in charge of local academic administration, not involved in people's livelihood, government affairs, criminals and prisons, let alone doing business. The reason why the prefect Lu did not impeach me is that I promised him the Tixue Division's annual Financial appropriations can be cut by [-]%, and the extra money will be at the disposal of the government.”

"This is an exchange of benefits. The slight grievances between me and him are insignificant in front of Yin Zi. But if there is a better choice, the Lu Zhifu will definitely tear up his face and impeach me. Li, when the time comes, do we still have a chance to intervene in the business of Yurong Pills? There is not enough silver to support the food and clothing of the masters under the jurisdiction of Zhangzhou Prefecture, and they will definitely charge high tuition fees to the students again, and they cannot afford the tuition fees. The students will definitely drop out of school. In this way, the style of study in Zhangzhou Prefecture will go backwards, and my months will be wasted."

"Do you think that a promoted official with no political achievements or background can be easily tricked by anyone?" Chu Ci laughed at himself, he really thought the officialdom was too simple.

Zhang Wenhai called out "Brother Chu" in a low voice, and then became speechless.The officialdom he imagined should be the kind where everyone is upright and pleads for the people, not the kind that is full of dangers and intrigues everywhere.If after becoming an official, you are faced with such scenes, then what is the point of being an official?

Seeing that Zhang Wenhai was about to doubt his life, Chu Ci's words woke him up in time.

"The world is dark and the officialdom is difficult and dangerous. As long as you have a righteous heart, you will be able to defeat them. Have you forgotten? Did the few of us set our ambitions when we were studying in the county school together? We agreed to help each other and support each other Yes, it's a long official journey, and I'm still waiting for you to help me!"

Zhang Wenhai's chest trembled unceasingly, and he remembered the vows that a group of high-spirited young people made to the cool moonlight.Now whether it is Chu Ci who is in the officialdom, or Fang Jinyang, Chen Zifang and others who are studying hard at home, they have not flinched and retreated. How can I be afraid and stay in a corner?

Seeing Zhang Wenhai's eyes gradually brighten, Chu Ci breathed a sigh of relief.You can't just be frightened by that old fox so easily.

Because they couldn't calm down, after returning to Tixue Division, the two of them set up wine again and drank to their heart's content. They didn't go back to their rooms until the gong struck at midnight.

Early the next morning, Chu Ci was awakened by Zhang Hu's knock on the door.He rubbed his hangover forehead, looking at the scattered rice papers in the room and various declarations of "Secondary Two" on them, he couldn't help feeling embarrassed.It seems that he was also stimulated yesterday. He hasn't done this kind of thing for a long time.

He put on his clothes, frowned and stepped out the door.When Chang Xiao heard it, he immediately went to fetch water for him.Fu Mingan, who was squatting in the courtyard, also stopped, trotted to the kitchen, and took out a bowl of hangover soup.

Chu Ci felt comforted, with these caring people and good teachers and helpful friends from afar, what else is he afraid of? !

After drinking the hangover soup and having breakfast, Chu Ci went to the front office full of energy and wrote down his name stroke by stroke on the sign-in board.

"Master Tixue, are you so early today?" The concierge was already familiar with Chu Ci's character and knew that he was approachable, so he had to chat with him every day.

"Yeah, I'm used to it." Chu Ci said with a smile, "By the way, I wasn't in the office yesterday, so nothing happened?"

The concierge looked around for no one, and then lowered his voice and said: "No, those adults are very obedient now, I think they were frightened by you."

Chu Ci laughed, and then deliberately said with a stern face: "What are you talking about? It's clear that the adults in our education department love their jobs and work hard, and they can consciously go to work without supervision."

Although the concierge didn't quite understand what Chu Ci meant, he also knew that he was joking, so he couldn't help laughing too.

With such an interruption, Chu Ci felt more peaceful.Right and wrong are right and wrong, and even a concierge knows that the previous behavior of everyone in Tixue Division is bad, let alone others.

When he arrived at his office, Chu Ci first dealt with the business affairs piled up on the desk, and then took out the few pieces of paper from yesterday.

He only roughly read it twice yesterday, but he must read it carefully today.He thought that there must be one omission in every secret, and there might be some loopholes to exploit. He couldn't believe it. How could these people in ancient times compare to modern lawyers in terms of commercial terms?