Although Chu Nanzhi never had a good impression of Taigong Zhao, she could not offend such a person even if she did not want to make friends with him.
After all, the richest man in the county has such a big thigh to hug, so why push him out?
Thinking of this, Chu Nanzhi sat down again with peace of mind and said respectfully: "The slave family was very touched that the Grand Duke put himself in the shoes of the slave family. It's just that the slave family is a womanly family. How can we manage the government affairs of the county government? All the stupid men have their own decisions."
"Ms. Chu is too modest."
Zhao Taigong smiled and shook his head gently: "If you are just an ordinary woman, how dare I invite you to come here to talk about it? The person who can win the favor of Mr. Nie and Changlao is absolutely extraordinary. If what I said is true, Chu
I am afraid that my wife’s ambition lies not only in the county affairs of Luyan Port, but also in the more distant court.”
Chu Nanzhi felt a little embarrassed when the old man struck a chord with his words.
She smiled gracefully and said, "My grandpa is too proud of my family."
Before she could finish her words, Zhao Taigong immediately waved his hand to interrupt her: "Mrs. Chu, there is no need to hide in front of the old man. The old man has just said that I have no ill will toward you, but only respect. Our Dahe Empire has no shortage of heroines.
From the eldest princess Yanjun to the princess Jinshu, to the noble women from the Qinghe noble family, Lady Chu’s talent, learning and courage are not inferior to them.”
As his eyes moved, he slowly looked at the banknotes on the table, and said solemnly: "The small gift I prepared today was prepared by me sincerely. If Madam Chu feels that there is anything wrong, I am willing to share it with you."
Make a deal, I wonder if Mrs. Chu dares to give it a try?"
"trade?"
Chu Nanzhi immediately thought that when he came here, the nursing home under him mentioned the matter of dealing with the Qi family.
This is not bad, no one suffers, but we don’t know what conditions he will offer.
Zhao Taigong nodded and said with a smile: "I heard that Mrs. Chu wanted to open a restaurant in the city. I must have been embarrassed by the Qi family these days. My uncle was forced to death by the Qi family and his revenge has not been avenged. Now he has to be hindered from even opening a restaurant. This
It’s understandable that I feel old and decrepit.”
At this point, his wrinkled cheeks were full of bitterness: "To be honest, I also hate the Qi family very deeply. If I can get rid of the Qi family, this is not only my biggest wish, but also my biggest wish.
It must be the long-cherished wish of many merchants in Luyan Port."
"The Grand Duke is a powerful gentry, so he will be in trouble by the Qi family?"
This actually shocked Chu Nanzhi.
Zhao Taigong smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Although the old man's family fortune is rich, Madam Chu also knows that most of the property is based on waterways. For this reason, he lost his wife and young son's life at sea back then. Now even in various places
Some real estate shops have been purchased, but the waterway business is still the lifeblood, and the water transport terminals along the Donghua River are all controlled by the Qi family, making it inconvenient to ship goods to the sea and along the river."
"I see."
Chu Nanzhi nodded thoughtfully.
No wonder that when he was looking for fish fry a while ago, Lin Jinxiao would rather take the risk of crossing Longshan Mountain to Haikang County than try to go to Donghua River. It can be seen that the water there is not ordinary deep.
She said with some confusion: "But I just open a restaurant. Even if I join forces with Grandpa, it won't shake the foundation of the Qi family."
"Opening a restaurant is naturally just a gimmick for Lao Chen. Joining forces with Madam Chu is just a statement of position."
Zhao Taigong smiled slyly: "At present, County Magistrate Lin has started to deal with the land annexation by the powerful and evil gentry in this county. According to my judgment, he is just using official land as an excuse to compete with the powerful and evil gentry for tenants and suppress land rents.
However, the official land controlled by the six eastern counties under his rule is only more than 300,000 acres, and Luyanggang County alone has a population of more than 400,000. If he cannot get the support of some wealthy gentry, this decree will be implemented
It’s not easy.”
"So Taigong wants to respond to the decree issued by the county government and rent the fields in his hands to tenants at a low price?"
Chu Nanzhi asked tentatively.
Taigong Zhao grinned: "Yes, the land that I have purchased in the eastern counties over the years, excluding the suburbs of Jingling City, is more than 20,000 acres. It is enough to compete with the Qi family in Luyan Port."
More than 20,000 acres?
Chu Nanzhi was directly surprised by this number.
During this period of time, she had always wanted to replace this old guy as the richest man. She had never thought that the property he purchased alone was valued at one million yuan. If she also calculated his shop and other properties, it would be a huge fortune.
Small family property.
With such a rich family property, he is probably the largest family in the entire Dahe Empire. It takes him years and months to accumulate such astronomical wealth by raising a fish pond and opening a restaurant.
Hey, it’s really difficult for me.
If I had known this, I might as well have agreed to his request and become the fifth mistress of the Zhao family, which would have saved me many years of hard work.
She secretly breathed a sigh of relief and smiled calmly: "If Grandpa can really do this, he is indeed very righteous, but he will lose a lot of money every year, right?"
With more than 20,000 acres of farmland, based on an average yield of two shi of grain per mu and a rent of 55 taels of land, even if one acre of land receives less than 500 taels of silver per year, it will result in a loss of tens of thousands of taels of silver.
Just thinking about it makes my body hurt.
However, Taigong Zhao waved his hand casually: "The old man is now in his twilight years. Madam Chu also knows a lot about the situation in the family. Her only youngest son died at sea early in his life, and his nephew Erlang is him."
Having said this, he frowned unbearably, and after pondering for a long time, he continued:
"No matter how much money I have, it's all extraneous to me. The only thing I'm not willing to accept now is that I still have some unfulfilled wishes. That's why I'm asking Madam Chu to come over and ask you to do something for me."
"What's the matter? Grandpa, you might as well speak frankly."
Chu Nanzhi carefully savored what he just said. He only mentioned his young son who died at sea, but never mentioned Zhao Xiaolangjun who was killed a few days ago. She was vaguely aware of what he wanted to ask her to do.
Zhao Taigong was silent for a moment, and finally said: "When Ms. Yu was interrogated in prison a while ago, she revealed something to Hu Maoxi before she died. She said that it was something that the old man would never have thought of in his life. She said that she would take it to the coffin.
Although it was not stated clearly, I probably guessed that it was related to the life experience of Wu's son Zhao Yan."
Hearing this, Chu Nanzhi's heart finally fell to the ground.
It seemed that his previous suspicion was indeed correct. In all likelihood, Mr. Zhao Xiaolang was not his and Wu's son.
Zhao Taigong's face was gloomy for a while, he raised his eyes and stared at her quietly, and said slowly: "A few days ago, I sent people to Wu Enrong's hometown to inquire about his family affairs, but could not find any clues related to him, and also
I sent people to the county to inquire, but still to no avail. I'm afraid this person has noticed it and made arrangements in advance."
"So Grandpa wants me to investigate Wu Enrong for you?"
Chu Nanzhi sighed.
Isn't this just hiring a private detective?
It turns out that this old guy's final plan lies here, he is so cunning.
"The old man only needs to figure out one thing now, whether his deceased wife Wu is his eldest sister. Once this is figured out, the life experience of his son Zhao Yan will naturally become clear."
After Zhao Taigong finished speaking, he fell silent.