Miss Gu Jia went to Dexian County to find the bad luck of Wu Mansion, and the news of smashing the plaques on the door of Wu Mansion and the plaques of more than ten shops in Wu Mansion spread within a few days. Some well-informed people in the town of Kangxi also got the letter.

Yu County assisted Yu Zhengxiong and his master Zhang Jingtian to hide in the study to talk about things.

Yu Zhengxiong paced back and forth on the ground with his hands behind his back, "Master, is it inappropriate for this official to go to see Master Wu?" ”

Master Zhang pondered for a while and replied, "My lord, according to the villain's opinion, it is more appropriate for the adult to go to the appointment." In any case, when adults first enter the officialdom, the local high-ranking families must not be offended, and they must be able to get by on face. ”

Yu Zhengxiong stopped, "This official also thought of this." However, the situation of Wu Mansion and Gu Mansion being incompatible has been decided, if this official goes to see Master Wu, what will Gu Mansion think? What would Lord Xiao think? Although there was no contact between the ancient mansion and Xiao Zhixian on the surface, he got a hint from Lord Xiao's master that the ancient mansion was kind to Doctor Xiao. There was a lot of movement in the fall of the Xiao Mansion last year, and he understood it after a little thought. Lord Xiao's master is telling him that Lord Xiao will definitely stand on the side of the ancient mansion when he encounters a major event. Therefore, how could he, who regarded Lord Xiao as his mentor, be close to the Wu Mansion!

Master Zhang analyzed it carefully, "My lord, you must learn to be tactful in dealing with people in the officialdom, and it is also essential to be left and right, and sometimes you have to do superficial work. After all, adults are new to the Wu Mansion, so they don't have to get too close to the Wu Mansion, but they can't draw a clear line with the Wu Mansion. For this appointment, the adults must go, and listen to what Master Wu has to say. ”

Yu Zhengxiong listened carefully, "And then? If Master Wu hinted that the official had stumbled on the ancient mansion, what should the official do? ”

Master Zhang replied, "My lord is too worried. With Master Wu's shrewdness, he will definitely say something inconsequential when they meet for the first time to win over the relationship. Master Wu will meet with Guò to observe and ponder the Adult. If he thinks he can take down the adults, he will definitely meet again, and test if the adults can help with something. On the contrary, he felt that adults would not lean towards him, that he would no longer contact adults, and that he would look for another goal. ”

Yu Zhengxiong sat on the chair, "According to the master's meaning, it is wisest to go to the appointment?" ”

While cleaning up the file on the table, Master Zhang replied, "Yes, my lord." When you meet, there is no harm to adults, adults can also observe Master Wu and ponder Master Wu, if adults can find any clues, they can talk to Lord Xiao. ”

Yu Zhengxiong nodded, feeling very reasonable, "That's good, this official will go to Master Wu's appointment the day after tomorrow." "His official position was not easy to come by, so he was careful to act from the day he took office, not allowing himself to take a wrong step. Moreover, when he first entered the officialdom, he didn't understand too many things, so he basically discussed everything with his master in official affairs.

Master Zhang, "My lord, there is one more thing. ”

Yu Zhengxiong," said. ”

Master Zhang, "The villain heard that Miss Gu has recently wanted to buy a large area of fertile land or wasteland, but she has not yet met a suitable one. The villain checked, and there was a barren slope of nearly 100 acres between Sunjia Village and Fengjia Village in the north of the town. "Meaning, you can pass the news to the ancient mansion. This is an opportunity to show goodwill to the ancient mansion. There is the support of Lord Yushi behind the ancient mansion, and it is necessary to show goodwill.

Yu Zhengxiong was a conscientious and responsible person, and in order to understand his territory as much as possible, he put a lot of effort into consulting various files whenever he had time. As soon as Master Zhang mentioned the barren slope, he quickly searched for the information in his memory about this and immediately found it. He said, "Before he left office, Lord Bai said that the farmers had reclaimed the barren slope over there before. The farmers tried to plant for two or three years, but found that only wild grass grows there, not food. Such a place is not appropriate to say that it is not with the ancient mansion. ”

Master Zhang has his own set of sayings, "Don't forget, adults, this is the ancient mansion where winter wheat was grown." Moreover, when the villain asks people to spread the news, they will definitely bring with them what the peasants said that only wild grass grows and no grain grows. "In short, I finally got an opportunity to show goodwill, and I must not let it go.

Yu Zhengxiong also thought of the winter wheat that caused a sensation in Huizhou in the spring, "You can look at it!" He thought that the imperial court would order the farmers of Kangxi Town to grow winter wheat on a large scale. I never thought that there was no movement in the imperial court in this regard. Even so, when he was planting winter wheat in Gufu, he, the newly arrived county assistant, still went to the fields to take a look.

Master Zhang said again, "My lord, Fengjia Village goes north to the border of Liangzhou, there are nearly 1,000 acres of wasteland, and there is a small hill. ”

Yu Zhengxiong hesitated, "This ......" Even if Gufu really intends to buy a large area of wasteland, but there are nearly 1,000 acres there, and I don't know if it can grow food, does Gufu dare to take this risk and buy it? In fact, he is not an unassertive person, and now he is learning how to be an official, so he will hesitate from time to time before making a decision, and the time of hesitation, he wants to listen to the master's opinion, and the second is thinking. In the end, it was he who made the decision.

Master Zhang smiled and said, "My lord, we just told you where there is wasteland. Moreover, if Gufu can really grow food on the wasteland, the number of people who can't eat in the entire Kangxi Town will be greatly reduced, and adults can also make a note in the merit book. "Buy it or not, Gufu makes its own decisions. They were just kind enough to provide news of the wasteland.

Yu Zhengxiong nodded, "Okay, do it according to your wishes." However, there is one thing that must be clearly said that farmers have cultivated the land before, but there is not much harvest. ”

So it was settled. On the second day, Master Zhang sent someone to call Cheng Yaren to talk.

Cheng Yaren said goodbye from Master Zhang and immediately went to the ancient mansion to see the housekeeper Gu Qiang.

After sending Cheng Yaren away, Steward Gu immediately sent Mother Su to the inner courtyard to find Qingshu.

Qing Shu learned that the ancient housekeeper had something to report, put down the needle and thread in his hand and went to the study, and informed the ancient housekeeper to go to the study to talk.

Qing Shu sat behind the bookcase, "I heard that Cheng Yaren has been here?" ”

"Yes, Miss. Master Zhang in the yamen asked Cheng Yaren to spread the word, saying that there was a barren slope of nearly 100 acres between Sunjia Village and Fengjia Village in the north of the town. Also, Fengjia Village goes north to the border of Liangzhou, there are nearly 1,000 acres of wasteland, and there is a small hill. ”

Qing Shu's eyes lit up, "I'm worried that I can't find a large piece of land, this is good news." ”

Butler Gu, "Miss, don't be too happy. First of all, I heard that there were farmers who reclaimed it and planted grain in the past, but only wild grass grew there, but no grain grows. So the farmers gave up, and no one touched the barren slope again. Besides, nearly 1,000 acres of wasteland, planted out, although it will not be harvested, but after paying the extremely low wasteland tax, there is basically nothing left. If there is that hill and you can't grow food, what is the use of the young lady? ”

Qing Shu smiled and asked, "These are all what Master Zhang asked Cheng Yaren to relay?" ”

Butler Gu, "Yes, miss." Cheng Yaren also said that what Master Zhang said was not bad at all, and he asked Miss to consider it carefully. If the young lady intends to buy it, Cheng Yaren will go to the yamen to ask the price. ”

Qing Shu thought about it, it was useless to just say it, you had to see it with your own eyes. So she pondered for a moment, "Arrange it, I'll go to these two places tomorrow." ”

Steward Gu immediately dissuaded, "Miss, it's freezing this day, and I can't see anything when I go." Miss endure it, and when everything recovers and spring blooms in the coming year, will Miss go to see it again? ”

Qingshu insisted on going, "What are you afraid of when it's cold?" If you look at it, you might find something good! Arrange it, see if Cheng Yaren can take me to see the wasteland tomorrow? ”

Steward Gu understood that he couldn't stop this.

Qing Shu commented, "This Master Zhang is very good at being a man. ”

Steward Gu agreed, "Yes, I have been in contact twice, and I found that this Master Zhang is very good at handling things, is tactful, and thinks about everything for the county assistant lord, and is helping the county assistant lord to open the local contacts step by step." Speaking of the wasteland, Master Zhang also specially told the Chengya people that this was instructed by the county assistant to do it. Master Zhang also said that if there is a large area of fertile land, someone will send news to him. ”

After the matter was finished, Qing Shu came back from the study, picked up the needle and thread and continued to be a female celebrity, and at the same time, he thought of the information about Yu Zhengxiong that Du Escort had found.

Yu Xianfu, named Yu Zhengxiong, is thin, medium-sized, average-looking, and easy-going in temperament on weekdays, but sometimes very paranoid. And this paranoia is mainly expressed in political opinions. His ancestors were cloth people, there was a show talent, to his grandfather's generation, the family opened a shop, a large family relied on the small profits of the shop to make a living. His grandfather is gone, his father took over the shop, the business is not good, and his life is not rich.

He was a child at the age of 14 and a talent at the age of 18, and was qualified to participate in the imperial examination. After that, he participated in the township examination once every three years (also known as the autumn examination because it was held in the autumn), and took the examination three times in a row before he passed the examination. It took nine years to take the township examination three times, and he was already twenty-seven years old when he passed the examination.

At this time, the home for him to study had already reached Cheng Dù, which was surrounded by four walls, and the shop was also sold. Fortunately, he was admitted to the Juren examination, got supplies from the imperial court, and did not let a dozen people in a large family starve to death.

After that, he participated in the general examination held at the Ministry of Rites in the spring of the second year of the township examination. He didn't take the test in the first year, and he didn't take the test in the second year. At this time, he was thirty-one years old. At this moment, he realized that his future was bleak, he had no famous teachers, he did not have the financial resources to continue to move forward on the road of the imperial examination, and his political views on behalf of the children of the poor family were ignored and appreciated. So, he gave up, he looked for a way everywhere, just hoping to get a small errand as a lifter to support his family.

Considered him lucky, the master of Master Chen Xianfu died violently somewhere in Huizhou, and Chen Xianfu couldn't find a suitable master for a while, so he thought of him who had already passed the examination, and hurriedly put him in the important position of master. After two years, when Chen Xianfu's term of office was only half a year left, Chen Xianfu told him to find a way out in advance. It means that Chen Xianfu no longer needs Yu Zhengxiong after leaving office, and he will not take away Yu Zhengxiong, the master. Moreover, the county assistant kindly hinted to him that the county assistant who came to take over had his own master, and he would not ask Yu Zhengxiong either. Yu Zhengxiong was very worried, although he also walked around, but his access was limited, and his situation became difficult.

This Chen Xianfu is not a bad person, so he wrote a few letters of recommendation for him. In the end, there was only one person who wrote back to inquire about Yu Zhengxiong's character and ability to do things, Xiao Zhixian of Dexian County. When the county assistant saw the letter, he immediately called Yu Zhengxiong to him, prompting Yu Zhengxiong to visit the magistrate of Dexian County, and reminding him what kind of people the magistrate of Dexian County admired, and admired the hard-working sons of the poor family.

Therefore, Yu Zhengxiong is a candidate recommended by Xiao Zhixian to the imperial court for the next county assistant of Kangxi Town. When the official documents of the imperial court were decentralized, and Yu Zhengxiong went to serve as the county assistant of Kangxi Town, Dexian County in the autumn, not only Yu Zhengxiong was surprised, but even the county assistant who wrote a letter of recommendation for Yu Zhengxiong was surprised. They originally thought that the errand that Xiao knew was given to him was just a master or a little follower of the master in a certain town. In this way, in a sense, from the rules of officialdom, Yu Zhengxiong can be said to be Xiao Zhixian's protégé.

Yu Zhengxiong knew that he would go to a certain town in Dexian County to do things in the future, so he had a little understanding of the general situation in the three towns belonging to Dexian County in advance, and waited for the news anxiously. As soon as the official document appointed as the county assistant came, he was first incredulous, then ecstatic, and then tried to calm down, and found his master as quickly as possible, and finally chose Zhang Jingtian, who was over forty years old and had been a master for three years, from his classmates who were also children of a poor family.

Originally, Xiao Zhixian was also going to leave office this year, but for some reason, it was rumored from above that he would not be transferred, and he still served as the magistrate of Dexian County. Knowing that he still had to stay in a familiar place to serve, Xiao Zhixian was overjoyed, and at the same time, he thought of the winter wheat in Gufu, so he was ready to use these five years to make a difference.