In the past, I was just a butcher. When I went to deliver pork to Zhang Juren's house in the east of the county seat, when I saw Zhang Juren going out, I would rush to kowtow to him, but Zhang Juren would not look at him at all, and looked extremely arrogant.
But after my grandson was admitted to Juren and became that so-and-so Jieyuan, Zhang Juren came to visit him last time with gifts and a smile on his face, not disdainful that he was a butcher.
That scene feels incredible even when I think about it now.
But it is precisely because of this that Zhang Tufu can truly understand the value of the title of Juren.
So when he saw his grandson kowtow to him, Butcher Zhang felt as if his life span had been cut in half instantly, but inexplicably, he felt very happy in his heart.
"Grandpa, what is wrong with this? I am your grandson, and it is only natural that I kneel to you."
After saying this, Fang Xiaoyue kowtowed three times to Mrs. Fang Zhang: "Mother, my child is unfilial and has come home late."
Then Mrs. Fang Zhang pulled Fang Xiaoyue into her arms, and she cried loudly while holding her, "What, my dear, you have suffered so much."
In short, this family drama ended after a long period of tossing.
On the other hand, the middle-aged man next to him waited until this moment and then stepped forward to greet him: "Brother Fang, you are polite. I am going back to Longzhuang Chen Shiming."
Return to Longzhuang Chen Shiming?
Fang Xiaoyue immediately remembered that this person was also a Juren, and his family was quite literary. His father was also a Juren, and his grandfather was a Jinshi. He returned to his hometown as the head of the household department and was in the sixth grade. In the entire Kuangluo County, this Chen family is
A famous squire family.
This time Longzhuang is where his family is located, covering an area of more than 5,000 acres, making it a large family.
People like this have considerable influence in Kuangluo County.
You must know that officials in Daze State do not go to the countryside, and the affairs in the countryside are controlled by these gentry families.
Therefore, Fang Xiaoyue did not intend to offend the other party, but instead exchanged greetings with the other party with a smile on her face, calling her brother and sister. Even before leaving, the two of them were reluctant to leave, as if they completely ignored the age gap between them.
It’s almost time to burn the yellow paper and cut off the chicken head.
However, Chen Shiming was quite well-informed. He heard that Fang Xiaoyue had written a poem about drinking wine during a cultural gathering in the provincial capital, and he immediately asked for the poem.
Fang Xiaoyue's current calligraphy level has been improved by one level after passing the Juren Examination, reaching level 14.
Level 14 calligraphy can basically be said to be the level of calligraphy that he has practiced for more than 30 years, so he is not afraid at all that his ugly handwriting will show off his cowardice.
But Chen Shiming was a clever man. When Fang Xiaoyue agreed, he immediately took out the good rice paper and polished the ink.
Fang Xiaoyue then wrote down the wine.
Of course, he can also write a new poem.
It's just that this is not the right time, so writing it down will be a waste and will not achieve the benefit of spreading fame.
It is also good to use an old poem to build your reputation in your hometown.
Chen Shiming had a drink and said goodbye with joy on his face.
Fang Xiaoyue just now had some free time to slowly reminisce with her grandfather.
In the evening, after his grandfather went to rest, he found his mother and asked about what happened before he came back.
Pretty much what he expected.
When the news came back that he had been admitted to Jieyuan, the Fang family in Yangjia Village suddenly seemed to have a huge suction vortex, sucking in all the officials and candidates.
In short, before and after, the county magistrate, the chief registrar, the county magistrate and other officials all came to visit, and the five most important people in Kuangluo County either came to visit in person or had people give him heavy gifts.
Come to your door.
For a time, the Fang family seemed to have become the center of Kuangluo County, which shocked Fang and Zhang, who had never seen anything like this before.
Fortunately, Butcher Zhang came at this time. Although Butcher Zhang was just a butcher, he had lived in the county for a long time and had many contacts with various religions. In addition, when he was young, he once followed a general, so he had some experience.
Therefore, Mrs. Fang and Zhang were not allowed to show their cowardice.
Of course, it is best now that her son is back, and Mrs. Fang Zhang immediately handed everything over to her son.
Therefore, Fang Xiaoyue was busy for most of the night before going to bed.
No way, there are too many gifts.
Just counting these gifts took a lot of effort.
And before dawn the next day, people who heard the news that Mr. Fang was coming home came to pay their respects.
The reason why they came to visit him was because they wanted to attach their land and people to Fang Xiaoyue's name.
At this point, we need to talk about Daze Country’s preferential treatment of scholars.
Of course, this scholar refers to a person with a good reputation.
For example, after being admitted as a scholar, in addition to the money and food provided by the state, the scholar can also be exempted from taxes on five acres of land.
And if you choose a person, you can be exempted from taxes on a full two hundred acres!
Because most of the newly admitted candidates do not have a very good family background and cannot buy two hundred acres of land at once, the tax on these two hundred acres creates a trap for speculation.
These people attached their fields and people to Fang Xiaoyue's name and enjoyed tax exemptions. Fang Xiaoyue could also charge them a fee to support his family in Hukou.
Therefore, as long as the scholars in Daze Kingdom are admitted to the Juren Examination, they will soon have no shortage of money.
Having said that, Fang Xiaoyue really doesn't like this kind of opportunistic method.
Of course, this is probably related to the fact that Fang Xiaoyue has money in hand and Lai Peng gave her 1,200 taels of silver.
Why should I accept your dependence and let you take advantage of the tax exemption?
Can’t I buy the land myself?
Fang Xiaoyue knows the price of fields in Kuangluo County.
Due to the mountainous terrain in Kuongluo County, the farming methods are relatively backward, and the farmers do not know the techniques of composting, so the food output here is low, which makes the price of the fields not high.
To put it simply, an acre of good irrigated land is worth 2 taels of silver, an acre of medium field is 1.5 taels of silver, and an acre of bad land is only 1 tael.
The price of dry land is even lower. For example, the price of some hillside land is less than 500 yuan per acre. It is extremely cheap!
However, this is not surprising. The grain yield of fields like this is very low. It is said that the cost of buying land is recovered. Even raising a family in Hukou requires a lot of effort.
What's more, Daze Country has a lot of taxes on fields. In total, 60% of the annual harvest from the fields needs to be paid!
With such a high tax, one may lose money if one is not careful, so families with low financial resources do not dare to buy land at all.
This also makes land prices low.
After driving away those families who tried to rely on him and seek benefits, Fang Xiaoyue invited his grandfather Zhang Butcher to help him identify some fields that could be connected into a large area, preferably within two hundred acres.
Then he wrote another post and added his own private seal.
This is a guarantee for Butcher Zhang. After all, when Butcher Zhang goes to buy land, it is hard to say that he will not encounter some difficulties from the officials. And with this post, others will know that Butcher Zhang is Fang Jieyuan’s man, unless they want to form a relationship.
Hatred, ordinary officials would not offend him.
After taking two silver notes worth one hundred taels and giving them to Butcher Zhang, Fang Xiaoyue asked her cousin Zhang Yuanming to follow her.
In the next few days, he visited all the officials in Mining Hearth County with gifts.
After all, I am now the official candidate, so I naturally have to handle these things properly so that no one can find fault with me.
After going back and forth on these worldly things, Fang Xiaoyue finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Next, Huang Pizi's matter should be put on the agenda.
Although there are no traces or smells of Huang Pizi around her home, Fang Xiaoyue has been visiting officials in the past few days and has felt the presence of Huang Pizi when she was raising people.
Moreover, the activity range of these yellow skins is extremely wide, covering almost half of Kuangluo County.
Fang Xiaoyue could smell the unique odor of Huangpizi almost everywhere she went.
This shows how hard they work in finding their enemies.
So the next day after resting, Fang Xiaoyue asked Zhang Yuanming to carry a load of gifts and headed towards Wu Qu Temple.
What surprised him was that Taoist Master Qingyu had been waiting at the entrance of the Taoist temple early.
I have to say that Taoist Master Qingyu does have some skills.
"Blessings are immeasurable, the Heavenly Lord! Fang Jieyuan is here. I welcome you from afar and atone for your sins, hahahaha."
Taoist Master Qingyu greeted him with a hearty smile.
Fang Xiaoyue didn't put on any airs about Xie Yuan, and just exchanged pleasantries with Taoist Priest Qing Yu, just like meeting old friends again.
On the other hand, the little Taoist boy looked at the gift that Zhang Yuanming carried into the Taoist temple with envy.
Fang Xiaoyue touched the little Taotong's hair bun, then took out a box of Kuixing cake and handed it to the little Taotong.
The little Taoist boy was very cautious and looked up at Taoist Master Qingyu.
Taoist Master Qingyu smiled: "Let's go and eat. Remember to boil water and make tea."
The little Taoist boy got the master's permission and happily opened the Kuixing cake and started eating it.
After all, a Taoist temple like Taoist Master Qingyu that cannot operate has a very hard life.
It is basically impossible for Xiao Daotong to eat such good pastries.
Of course, the gift Fang Xiaoyue sent this time was actually sent by someone else.
There are too many in the house. Although there are paper, ink, pens and inkstones, as well as silver ingots, silks and other valuables, there are also many pastries and cooked meats like this.
If these things are kept at home, even if Fang Xiaoyue is a big belly king, she can't finish them in a short time. If they are kept for a long time, they will only spoil, so she simply took some of them as gifts and sent them to the Taoist temple.
After all, he still has something to ask Taoist Master Qingyu for next.
After hearing Fang Xiaoyue's intention, Taoist Master Qingyu was not surprised at all: "Well, now that you have the honor of being a civil servant, it is difficult for ordinary monsters to harm you, except for those yellow men. But how is your Kung Fu training now?
"
Fang Xiaoyue borrowed a wooden sword with a smile and started practicing martial arts sword techniques.
I have to say that from the perspective of Taoist Master Qingyu, Fang Xiaoyue at this time may have worked hard on Wuqu Jianjue for at least 30 years!
This level is comparable to my own.
But the question is, how long has it been since the other party got the sword manual you gave him?
What's more, the other party also went to the provincial capital to participate in a provincial examination!
Is it true that there are geniuses in this world who are born with knowledge and who learn to know it?
Of course, no matter what, after seeing Fang Xiaoyue's level of sword skills, Taoist Master Qingyu felt relieved and never refused Fang Xiaoyue's request again.
Of course, it is not that simple to annihilate a group of yellow men.
In addition to Taoist Master Qingyu himself needing to prepare a large number of talismans, even Fang Xiaoyue was assigned tasks by Taoist Master Qingyu.
"Fang Juren, that yellow-skinned man is cunning by nature. He will run away very quickly when he sees danger. Therefore, Fang Juren has to go to the county government office and ask the government officials for help."
Fang Xiaoyue nodded, and he also understood that those yellow-skinned ones were weasels turned into spirits, so they would definitely be difficult to deal with.
If he cannot catch them all this time, then the other party will definitely have a life-and-death feud with him. By then, he may need to tie his mother and grandfather's family to him. Otherwise, with Huang Pizi's cunning, he may not be able to kill him.
How long will it take before we hear the bad news about them?
The monsters in this world are not as benevolent as some legends say. They are monsters that are greedy for human beings.
Therefore, if monsters appear anywhere, they will soon be severely punished by the government.
Fang Xiaoyue understood this when she stepped into the county government office and met with the county magistrate, Cui Changshou.
When Cui Changshou saw Fang Xiaoyue, his face was full of smiles.
There's no reason why he's unhappy.
Fang Xiaoyue ordered this cake herself. Although the cake from a county examination is nothing, it cannot be compared with the provincial examination or the provincial examination.
But the relationship between Cui Changshou and Fang Xiaoyue is always different.
Apart from anything else, if Fang Xiaoyue enters the officialdom in the future, the two parties will definitely help each other.
This can be considered a big network of connections.
In Cui Changshou's view, if Fang Xiaoyue can win the first place in the provincial examination and become Jieyuan, then there should be no problems in the subsequent joint examination.
In this way, Fang Xiaoyue is a capital official in the capital, and he is a county magistrate in the local area. He may have to rely more on the other party.
When he thought of this, Cui Changshou's face looked even more affable.
But what Fang Xiaoyue said next made Cui Changshou's expression change.
"Is this really true?"
It turns out that Huang Pizi's incident was not only reported by Fang Xiaoyue, but also by a scholar half a month ago.
It's just that the scholar fell into the river and drowned due to drunkenness, so no one took care of the matter afterwards.
Cui Changshou sounded at this time, and his face couldn't help but change suddenly.
Even though he was already a county magistrate, he knew that ordinary monsters would not dare to provoke him.
But things can happen.
What if, in that nest of yellow men, there was a monster that dared to take risks and attack me, wouldn't I have already died by now?
Cui Changshou felt very suspicious when he thought of the scholar's death. I'm afraid that the scholar's death was not that simple. Unfortunately, he was so busy with official duties that he forgot about it.
Thinking about it now, it really gave him a chill down his back.
In short, that nest of yellow skin must be eliminated!
Otherwise, you will have to wait until the end of the year to take the big plan exam every three years!
If in the Grand Planning Examination, there are comments such as chaos in the county administration, infestation of monsters, inability to serve as an official, weakness, etc., it will be even more difficult for oneself to keep the official position, not to mention getting promoted and making a fortune.