Chapter 77: Covering Mountains and Seas (IV)
The autumn tax collection was over, and Magistrate Liu of Mengyin County received a letter from Magistrate Zhang of Mouping County. Magistrate Liu could sense Magistrate Zhang's relief from the letter.
In addition to greetings, Magistrate Zhang told Magistrate Liu that Huo Chong had already left for Mengyin County. If nothing happened in the meantime, Huo Chong would be able to determine the size of the breeding farm in Mengyin County before winter.
No matter what Huo Chong was going to do, County Magistrate Zhang thought it would be best to trap Huo Chong here first, so that he wouldn't just walk around and find an excuse to leave.
After reading the letter, County Magistrate Liu called the lawyer over. After reading the letter, the lawyer did not show any optimism. He asked in confusion: "Boss, has County Magistrate Zhang already received the tax money from Huo Chong?"
County Magistrate Liu was stunned for a moment, then he felt that he had found the key point. If he had not received the tax silver, County Magistrate Zhang probably would not have said this. The two had corresponded before, and when he mentioned Huo Chong, he cursed this guy for not keeping his word. This time, County Magistrate Zhang did not have any good comments about Huo Chong, but he did not have any bad comments at all.
Magistrate Liu, who thought he had figured out the key, asked, "Master Zhou, how much tax do you think Magistrate Zhang received?"
The lawyer stroked his beard and thought for a while before saying, "Boss, it's hard to say. From what I think, I'm afraid that Magistrate Zhang has already received the tax silver he wanted."
County Magistrate Liu pursed his lips subconsciously. The distance from Mengyin County deep in the Mengshan Mountain to Mouping County on the coast was very far. If they had not gone to Jinan together, County Magistrate Liu would never have gone to Mouping County to meet County Magistrate Zhang.
However, Mengyin County is much closer to Zichuan County and Linzi County, so County Magistrate Liu sent people to inquire about the two places. The results of the inquiry were that Huo Chong had set up businesses in both places and was doing very well.
Especially Linzi County, which is next to Zichuan County, although it is not Huo Chong's home, has also collected a lot of tax silver. A few hundred taels of tax silver is not a small amount for Linzi County, but it is a large sum of money for Mengyin County deep in Mengshan.
Being a county magistrate in such a barren place is almost like being exiled. As long as he can pay taxes and nothing serious happens in the county, County Magistrate Liu will be promoted as soon as possible, or at least transferred. Even before meeting Huo Chong, County Magistrate Liu has already decided that he must trap Huo Chong and make him pay taxes here honestly.
"A-choo!" Huo Chong sneezed loudly, rubbed his nose, and looked up at the mountain area. Huo Chong thought that maybe he should wear a mask.
Although it was only August, the eighth month of the lunar calendar, it was already very cold in the mountains. When the mountain wind blew... A-choo! Huo Chong sneezed again.
It seems that we must prepare masks! Huo Chong made up his mind.
Mengyin County is Qian Qing's hometown. But Huo Chong's apprentice... Qian Qing, the eldest apprentice, never mentioned this place. Even if she heard others mention it, she would not say a word.
From a psychological perspective, this is a kind of resistance reaction to something that has left a deep impression. Huo Chong can understand Qian Qing's emotions. His family was killed here, so how can he have any good memories? Even if he recalls the good things that happened a long time ago, he will only be doubly entangled in pain.
Just as I was thinking about this, a whistle suddenly sounded in front of me. A dozen people jumped out from behind rocks in the woods on both sides of the mountain road. They were holding weapons and making a lot of noise, just like mountain kings.
Some of the people led by Huo Chong were just hired employees. They stopped immediately, all looking nervous.
The young men led by Yang Liu were also a little nervous, but they were more eager to try. Especially Yang Liu, he was Yang Youfang's nephew and Qian Qing's cousin. As a formal employee, Yang Liu had received sufficient training. He took out a stick and led several young men to confront the group of people blocking the road.
When Huo Chong walked to the front of the road, he saw that the people blocking the road were dressed in ordinary clothes with many patches. The weapons in their hands were also made of wood, and only the leader was holding a hatchet.
Moreover, this guy's accent was really hard to understand. After listening to a few sentences, Huo Chong still didn't understand what this robber was saying.
In this situation, Huo Chong could only ask: "Brother, what do you want?"
"Don't you know that you have to pay to take this road?" the hatchet leader on the opposite side shouted.
Hearing this, Yang Liu and the others were ready to take action. Huo Chong stopped them and said with a smile: "Brother, we are government officials. Do you think that all the bribes you collect will be handed over to the government?"
The Chopping Blade leader looked Huo Chong up and down and laughed, "I know all the people in the government, are you kidding me?"
Huo Chong asked his men to take out the official robes and put them on, then he continued, "I am a government official."
Seeing Huo Chong do this, those people were a little surprised. After a moment, the leader of the hatchet shouted: "How dare you lie to me!"
Can't you scare these people with your official status? Huo Chong became more interested in these guys in Mengyin County.
But this was not the time to tell them this. Huo Chong said to the regular employees around him, "Kill them away, and try not to hurt them!"
When several young men heard the order, they responded in unison, waving their sticks and rushing forward to kill.
The men of the Chopping Knife leader were beaten up in a short time and ran away. When the Chopping Knife leader saw that Huo Chong was a tough guy, he also ran away with his weapons.
Huo Chong looked at his hired workers and saw that they were all relieved. They were just doing their job as usual. No one showed the ambition to be promoted and further their studies.
This is also the general state of the hired workers. Huo Chong initially thought that the hired workers would strive to become apprentices, and the apprentices would strive to become apprentices. In reality, this is not the case. The hired workers behave like hired workers. If Huo Chong and his men cannot beat these robbers, the hired workers will probably choose to honestly hand over their sports items and save themselves first.
Although he knew that this was going to happen, Huo Chong was still a little disappointed. This disappointment suddenly reminded Huo Chong of the picture on the Internet, where a tied crab was trying to crawl from a crab box priced at 19.8 yuan to a crab box priced at 29.8 yuan.
Even in such an environment, everyone tries their best to improve their own value. This is probably the biggest impression that the new China in the 21st century and the Qing Dynasty in 1719 gave Huo Chong.
After passing a place that looked like a valley, they saw fog rising in the distance. It didn't look like there were people living there, and Huo Chong was delighted by this.
There are hot springs in Mengshan. They are quite famous. As a native of Shandong, Huo Chong has never been there, but has only heard of it.
In this era of widespread poverty, Huo Chong has no intention of operating hot spring tourism. Hot springs have only one function, which is to provide heat. One of the foundations for the progress of human society is the energy revolution. Therefore, when describing the industrial era in the 19th century, history textbooks all write about the production of coal and iron in various countries.
It is clear that by 1718, populous China was already lagging behind European countries in coal production.
Huo Chong did not have the ability to mine on a large scale, but he needed energy. The reason why he chose Mengyin County as another important base was not because his eldest disciple Qian Qing was from Mengyin County.
After noting the location of the hot spring, Huo Chong and his companions continued on their way. When they approached the county town, it was already late. Small patches of empty land could be vaguely seen on both sides of the dark mountain road. The houses made of stone and thatch looked quite gloomy, showing Huo Chong the poverty of the place.
Upon learning that Huo Chong was coming, County Magistrate Liu personally entertained Huo Chong. Although Huo Chong never regarded himself as an official, and so did County Magistrate Liu. But the county magistrate still entertained Huo Chong very cordially. Especially after Huo Chong gave County Magistrate Liu a lot of gifts including rabbit meat, the table immediately became rich.
With meat to eat, County Magistrate Liu's face became more friendly. The food provided by Huo Chong also increased the number of dishes on the table to more than six. Even the people accompanying him for dinner showed a satisfied look unconsciously.
Huo Chong observed these guys and saw that this poor place was very strict with rules. It was really like three rounds of wine and five kinds of dishes.
The three flavors and five tastes are both general terms. The five tastes are generally sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty. If it weren't for the addition of several different flavors of meat, it would not be so easy to put these dishes together.
The so-called "three rounds" means three times. The host pours wine for each guest once, like a round of the city. After three times, when the guests have finished drinking, this is called "three rounds of wine". It means that the wine and dishes have been almost finished, the dinner has come to an end, and the stage of talking is about to begin.
After three rounds of wine and five dishes, everyone started chatting. They talked about various polite things, introduced each other, and tried to find out what the other party was doing.
At this time, Huo Chong's official status was brought up again. When everyone heard that Huo Chong had met the two most popular princes at the time, they were all envious.
Huo Chong was annoyed by the surprise of these guys, who didn't know whether it was true or not. He couldn't help but think that if he told them that he had actually talked to the current emperor Kangxi, he didn't know what kind of shock these people would show.
Just as he was thinking about it, he heard a scholar who was a juren asked, "Brother Huo, I heard that you also perform rituals?"
"You don't talk about strange things." Huo Chong immediately retorted. Although he was indeed a small leader of the Tianli Sect, Huo Chong actually regarded it as a kind of shame in his heart.
Hearing Huo Chong suddenly talking about "The Analects of Confucius", the scholar was stunned for a moment, and then burst into laughter very rudely.
Among the people at the same table, even those who were still busy eating couldn't help but raise their heads, with either mockery or confusion on their faces.
After everyone finished laughing, Huo Chong no longer felt angry. He asked, "Excuse me, what is your name, brother?"
"My surname is Wang, Wang Kuanmin." The scholar replied.
Huo Chong had an impression of this name. When Huo Chong asked about it, his eldest disciple Qian Qing said that her father was betrayed by Wang Kuanmin, and was arrested and killed by the government through literary inquisition.
But Wang Kuanmin, the scholar, continued, " Since Brother Huo follows the words of the saint, why is he the leader of the Taoist sect?"
Everyone else pricked up their ears, including County Magistrate Liu and the guys who were gnawing on the rabbit legs. Everyone wanted to see how Huo Chong would deal with Wang Kuanmin's provocation.
Huo Chong simply described his methods to everyone present. Since so many people knew that Huo Chong was a craftsman, Huo Chong did not hide it. The so-called planting of blessings was not only found in Zibo County, but there were similar Taoist organizations in various places.
Huo Chong only talked about the role . Farmers who joined Zhongfubao no longer decided what crops to grow on their own, but planted designated crops according to Huo Chong's needs. If this goal could be achieved, it would mean that Huo Chong's control over the village would be taken to a higher level. If the villagers did not have enough trust in Huo Chong, they would not risk Huo Chong breaking his contract and plant a large number of crops that Huo Chong required.
In order to obtain the raw materials for processing, Huo Chong must establish such a supply and demand relationship. And something mysterious can accelerate such a relationship.
Hearing Huo Chong's words so truthfully, Wang Kuanmin was puzzled at first, and then said disdainfully: "Using such a petty trick is not what a saint intended."
Because of Qian Qing, Huo Chong really didn't want to say anything more to Wang Kuanmin. Just as this guy was pressing him, Huo Chong raised his glass and said to County Magistrate Liu: "Come, I'll toast to County Magistrate Liu."
Everyone raised their glasses and drank. County Magistrate Liu said, "Let's stop here today. I'll arrange for Brother Huo to stay first."
The others knew that Magistrate Liu had issued an order to expel them, so they all stood up and said goodbye. After everyone left, Magistrate Liu made a cup of herbal tea provided by Huo Chong, smelled it first, and then took a sip, and then said: "Brother Huo, the prince said that you can make the truth sound like a lie, and it is true. What you said about planting blessings should be what Brother Huo meant."
"That's right." Huo Chong answered readily. The longer he interacted with these officials, the more Huo Chong realized that telling the truth was more effective than lying to county officials.
The county officials of the Qing Dynasty were divided into county magistrates and county magistrates, just as the counties of the Qing Dynasty were divided into two types: easy to govern and difficult to govern. The county magistrates were definitely scholars who passed the imperial examinations. When they took office, they were assigned to peaceful counties. For counties that were difficult to govern, county magistrates were sent. The origins of the county magistrates were different. Some were scholars, and some donated their money to become officials.
Although the levels of the latter varied greatly, they all had one characteristic, that is, they were more pragmatic than the county officials who were Jinshi graduates, and many of them would do anything to achieve their goals.
Huo Chong still didn't know what kind of person County Magistrate Liu was. But at least County Magistrate Liu was someone who could understand what Huo Chong said. In other words, in Huo Chong's evaluation criteria, County Magistrate Liu was a smart person.
The greatest advantage of smart people is that they can solve problems. Just like Huo Chong said part of the content, but there is more that he did not say.
Only a few people can understand it clearly. For them, there is only a certain degree of trust, but no 100% trust. Even if there is so-called complete trust, it is just that they have given up all control over those things.
Most people feel that the person is trustworthy, so they throw everything to others based on their own thinking patterns.
Smart people don’t trust others, so they are easier to manipulate.
"Brother Liu, we were not able to make it clear the last time we met. But this time we have the chance." Huo Chong said with a smile.
