Because he was new to the university, he didn't know much about what he had to do in the official position of general judgment, and because of the tiring journey, Lu Zhen didn't interfere much in the official affairs of the yamen after that, but just casually looked through those documents, and then brought in Lin Lie and the four of them to greet the prefect.

In this regard, Hua Qianfeng did not mean to be embarrassed, and casually assigned the four of them to the general judgment hall on an errand, as for whether they can get out of the way in the future, it depends on their ability.

Then, Lu Zhen found a clerk from the yamen and asked him to take him to a nearby dental store to see if he could rent a house he liked as a place to stay.

The government of the Ming Dynasty has clearly stipulated that if you want to buy, sell or rent a house, you must go through the Ya Shop or the official government, and generally the people in the government are also willing to find a local Ya Shop to help find a suitable residence, because the people in these Ya Shops are local landlords and have far more resources than the magistrates. In a sense, the tooth shop is equivalent to the intermediary company of later generations, and it also has some semi-official colors.

However, you can't think that he is easy to deal with just because he has a semi-official color, in fact, the water in the tooth shop is very deep, and he likes to coax those who come from other places the most, and can often coax people to pay several times, or even ten times the price, to win the house they like, and the extra money falls into their pockets. In this regard, although some people are dissatisfied, they are helpless, who let them still collude with the local government?

That's why there is a saying among the people that has been handed down, called the foot teeth of the car and boat shop, and the innocent should be killed. It's about how much the people in these five professions are hated by ordinary people and how many harmful things they have done.

Of course, such coaxing could not happen to Lu Jin. He was the new official of the government, and there were people from the yamen who led him to speak, and the people related to the tooth shop naturally served him with the most patient and thoughtful attitude, and introduced him to a few houses that were not bad, and even kept the price very low, and almost did not dare to take a commission from it.

Although they were quite quick to do things, Lu Jin still had the option to move into the house today, because it was getting late, and they would definitely not have time to go to a few houses to see the situation before making a decision. So he made an appointment with them to go to a few houses the next day, and when he was satisfied, he rented the house.

As for this day, Lu Jin, who was an official of the imperial court, did not have to pay for the guest house, but was directly sent to the inn by the West Lake to rest.

The next day, Lu Zhen went to the mansion for a turn, and after taking leave from the Hua Governor's Mansion, he went to the tooth man again to see those houses. This busyness is a whole day, and finally a location is closer to the yamen, and the place is spacious enough, with three entrances and seven or eight rooms in the courtyard - Lin Lie and the four of them went south to Hangzhou with themselves, and they still had to live together for at least a short time.

This house is not only a good place, but also has all the furniture inside, and it is an outer house purchased by a businessman who once came to Hangzhou. Later, because of the death of his wife, he welcomed the lady of the outer house into the door to make a continuation, and the house was vacant, and it was rented out at this time.

But in this way, the rent of the house is also very expensive, and in the case that the tooth store does not take much commission, it actually costs thirty taels of silver for half a year, which is enough to buy such a good house if it is placed in the north.

And Lu Zhen knows better that he is only in his early fifties for a year. In other words, if you live on your own money, you won't have enough money to rent a house, and it is not easy to be an official in Hangzhou, which can be seen from this point alone.

You must know that being an official is not only the cost of food, clothing, housing and transportation, but also many people below have to count on his reward money to live, as well as socializing with colleagues and bosses. It can be seen that under the meager salary system of the Ming Dynasty, how difficult it is to be a clean official, and it is even more difficult to be a clean official who wants to make a difference.

Fortunately, Lu Zhen is still a little wealthy now, and the gray income he obtained before, plus the gold given by the Wei Mansion in Nanjing, together with 14,500 taels, is enough to last here in Hangzhou for a while.

However, there is one point, which makes Lu Zhen mutter, now that the government does not provide accommodation for everyone, how did these hundreds of people solve the accommodation problem? Are they all Hangzhou locals? Even if the servants are on errands, it is impossible for the low-level officials in the yamen to be selected locally, and they do not have such a rich net worth as themselves.

Also, the Huazhi Mansion can make so many tricks in the government office, and it is renovating and expanding the public hall, where does the money come from? It can't be out of public money, if he does, I'm afraid he will be impeached by the official and lose his office, and he may even be assigned to the remote area.

Thinking about it this way, there is only one answer left - the people of the government must have received a lot of benefits, but what are the tricks behind this?

Regarding this issue, it did not bother Lu Zhen for too long, because on the third day after he moved into the newly rented house, Hua Qianfeng sent someone to send him a message, saying that he wanted to pick up the wind and wash the dust for him, and a banquet would be held on the Wanghu Tower by the West Lake, and the government officials and local celebrities would be present to celebrate.

Lu Zhen naturally did not shirk this invitation, and agreed with his mouth.

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At this time, the first restaurant in Hangzhou, which is famous in the world in later generations, has not yet appeared, but as a well-known and praised by countless literati and poets, the West Lake is still targeted by many discerning businessmen, and there are many wineries and pavilions around it, among them, Wanghulou is the most famous one today.

This building has five floors, in Hangzhou and other cities in the south of the Yangtze River, it can be regarded as standing out, and the Liuhe Pagoda in the distance, or some pagodas in the Lingyin Temple in front of it, can be compared with one of them.

In addition, the wine and food in the restaurant, especially the Hangzhou cuisine cooked, is also a must in the city. With these two points, as long as the people in the city who have status think of the banquet, they will definitely set the location in this Wanghu Tower.

At dusk, Lu Zhen took Lin Lie to appear in front of Wanghu Tower, at this time, the wide courtyard outside the building was full of all kinds of sedan chairs, and he was a guest who came here on foot.

However, Xiao Er, who greeted the guests in front of the door, did not dare to underestimate him, and when he saw him coming, he hurriedly smiled and saluted and asked if he had booked a seat. When he learned that Lu Jin was coming to the banquet set up by the prefect, Xiao Er smiled so much that a chrysanthemum was about to bloom on his face, and he quickly bent down and led Lu Jin all the way to the fifth floor, then nodded and retreated.

The bottom four floors of this restaurant are all open to several private rooms, so that different drinkers can have their own feasts. But this fifth floor, although the area is the same as the one below, is connected, and the whole floor only welcomes a group of guests. This alone shows that the cost of this meal should be very old.

When Lu Zhen turned from the screen in front of the door to the inner room, he was even more stunned, what a big stroke!

This layer is wide enough not to mention, there are 20 zhang square in the first floor, in addition to this entrance, is a platform on the opposite side that extends to the outer room, at a glance, you know that standing on the platform, you can look at the beautiful scenery of the West Lake below from top to bottom.

In this space, which was large enough for hundreds of people to stand without being crowded, there were less than twenty low tables, on which a pot of tea and a dozen plates of dried preserves were already placed. Nowadays, even the capital is accustomed to round table banquets, in this city of Hangzhou, a prefect actually uses a banquet system, this luxurious and retro system.

At this time, except for the four or five tables above, the other tables were already seated, and even Tongzhi Xuancheng, who had dealt with Lu Zhen several times, was already present. As soon as he arrived, Xuan Tongzhi smiled and got up to greet him, and at the same time introduced to the guests around him who also looked at Lu Jin: "This is Lord Lu Jin, the newly appointed general judge of our government. ”

"It turned out to be Lord Lu, disrespectful and disrespectful!"

"Lord Lu has already become a government official when he is young, and his future will be limitless!" ……

As soon as they knew Lu Jin's identity, everyone who was still a little hesitant just now got up one after another, and several middle-aged men who were sitting at the bottom of the place, who might be quite "mellow", even said something flatteringly.

Lu Zhen naturally humbly greeted them one by one, especially those colleagues in the government who had known him for a long time, and he even said a few words to them that he didn't dare to do, and finally looked at Xuan Cheng: "I didn't expect Xuan Tongzhi to arrive so early, and it was rude to be a step late." ”

"Hey, I'm just helping the prefect Zhang Luo and greeting the guests today, so naturally it's early. And you are the host and guest today, so you should come at this time. Xuan Cheng said with a smile, and then led Lu Zhen to a guest seat higher than himself.

In this way, there are only four positions left in the top place, and after Lu Zhen sat down, he looked at the empty positions with some curiosity, guessing that in addition to the prefect Hua Qianfeng, there was anyone with such a high status. Logically speaking, it is impossible for the political envoy and the yamen of the inspection department to send someone to wash their dust, could it be some famous people in the city, or a certain senior who has already become a minister?

Just as he was guessing the identity of the guest, a voice sounded outside: "The prefect has arrived!" ”

This sound made everyone present stunned, and then they all got up to greet each other. Lu Jin also hurried up, but after Hua Qianfeng turned out from behind the screen, Lu Jin was stunned - he actually came alone, and there were no other companions with him. In other words, when the prefect arrived, there were still three guests who had not arrived, who were they, and they had such a big shelf?