After deciding on the position and receiving a reward of silver, Han Wen and Su Hao had nothing to say. It was Fang Mengjin who arranged how Su Hao would carry out his work in the future, so Han Wen would naturally not care about these specific matters.
After a few more meaningless words, Su Hao wisely stood up and left. Han Wen bowed his hand to him, and then told Fang Mengjin to send Su Hao out.
Fang Mengjin accompanied Su Hao out of the second hall and walked outside. In the corridor, Fang Mengjin asked: "Su Hao, do you know why the magistrate gave you a reward?"
"Students are stupid, please ask Master to enlighten you." Su Hao said.
Fang Mengjin said: "Your Excellency hired you as a master, and the monthly salary for you is 2 shi, which will be 24 shi in a year. With such a salary, you can barely be considered a middle-class family in the county, and your life will be worry-free. But it’s just a living wage. With your talent, this salary is a bit shabby.”
Su Hao said: "Students don't dare to have too many extravagant expectations."
Fang Mengjin waved his hand and said: "It is human nature for a gentleman to love money. You have a mother and a sister to support, so you also need to earn more money. Let me tell you, the workshop is responsible for engineering affairs and handles a lot of money and food every year. , if the business is done properly, it is reasonable to save dozens of taels of silver a year..."
Su Hao was stunned for a while before he understood what Fang Mengjin meant, and said quickly: "Master, how dare the student embezzle money and food again when he is favored by the magistrate and the county magistrate?"
"This is not considered corruption." Fang Mengjin waved his hand and said, "If the person in charge of the workshop only loses a few dozen taels of silver a year, he is considered very clean, and the county magistrate will not care about it. However, if he has big ideas, For some, it’s difficult to satisfy your desires, so it’s hard to say. The county magistrate rewards you 20 taels of silver in the hope that you can take care of yourself. As long as you work for me in a down-to-earth manner, I will not treat you badly."
"Thank you, Master, for your advice." Su Hao was so enlightened that he quickly saluted and thanked Fang Mengjin.
When Fang Mengjin said this, he always spoke in a light tone. He was neither arrogantly preaching nor showing kindness. Su Hao knew that Fang Mengjin meant to the point. As for how to understand, Or if you are willing to understand it, it depends on Su Hao himself. Fang Mengjin's words have been very straightforward: let you manage the workshop and make some money. The county magistrate will not object, but don't be greedy. As long as you work hard, The boss will not treat you badly.
Fang Mengjin sent Su Hao outside the Yimen and turned back. Su Hao walked along the corridor towards the door. Looking at the government officials on both sides, he felt aloof. Han Wen had already said that his His status is higher than that of all officials. As for his former government service, it is even less worth mentioning.
After seeing Su Hao off, Fang Mengjin returned to the second hall, where Han Wen was still sitting there waiting for him.
Seeing Fang Mengjin coming back, Han Wen asked, "Have you told him what you should say?"
Fang Mengjin said: "I've already said it."
"How does he behave?"
"I think he should understand what you mean, sir."
Han Wen nodded and said, "That's good. Drilling wells costs a lot of money. If after he goes down, he colludes with the officials and digs less wells and overcharges the consumption, it will be a troublesome thing."
Fang Mengjin said: "I think this person has great ambitions, and I don't think he will be fascinated by these yellow and white things. Look at how he behaved in front of you just now, not like a scholar who has never seen the world. From the looks of it, I feel that this child must not belong to the pond."
"Why have I never heard of such a talent before?" Han Wen said in surprise.
Fang Mengjin smiled and said: "Your Excellency, it is said that times make heroes. If it were not for such a severe drought, he would not have much chance to display his well-drilling abilities. Sir, if Su Hao can take over the well-drilling matter, he can
Improve the efficiency of drilling wells. Not to mention drilling every well, as long as we can increase the ratio of waste wells to good wells to one-to-one, we can also save thousands of taels, which is a lot of money.
ah."
Han Wen said: "Saving money is only one aspect. It can speed up the drilling of wells, and the losses caused by the drought can be greatly reduced. This will make our Fengcheng County look good in front of the prefect and the chief envoy."
"Based on my impression of Su Hao, I think he will definitely not live up to your lord's high expectations." Fang Mengjin said.
Not mentioning that Han Wen and Fang Mengjin were talking about Su Hao behind his back, Su Hao left the county office alone and saw Su Xiaohu guarding the bullock cart and dozing under the shade of a tree. He walked up and took a photo
He patted Su Xiaohu on the shoulder and shouted: "Hey, Xiaohu, wake up!"
Su Xiaohu suddenly woke up, saw Su Hao, and asked with a smile: "Brother Hao, you came out, did the magistrate reward you?"
"Of course I'm rewarded." Su Hao said proudly.
"Hey, where is Xiu'er?" Su Xiaohu then realized that Su Hao came out alone and asked quickly.
"Oops, I forgot about Xiu'er." Su Hao slapped his head and wanted to run to the county government office. When he turned around, he saw Lu Xiuer walking out of the gate of the county government office. As he walked, he turned back to face the people inside.
Waving his hand, Su Hao didn't see who was escorting Lu Xiu'er out. He only saw a flash of green skirt in the door, and then disappeared.
"Brother, you didn't call me when you came out!" Lu Xiuer ran towards Su Hao and said in a complaining tone. Her face was flushed with uncontrollable excitement.
"Sorry, sorry, I forgot." Su Hao apologized repeatedly, "Xiu'er, who sent you out."
"She is a young lady from the county magistrate's family," Lu Xiuer said.
"No one bullies you, right?" Su Hao asked with concern.
Lu Xiuer pouted: "Of course not! The wife of the county magistrate and the young lady from the magistrate's family are so good. They insisted on giving me food and took me to play in the back garden. I also went to the lady's embroidery house. Miss
The embroidery building here is so beautiful, it’s more than 100 times more beautiful than Xiaohong’s embroidery building.”
The "Xiaohong" Lu Xiuer is talking about is the girl from Su Zhong's family. Su Zhong's family is considered a landlord and has quite a lot of money, so he imitates the behavior of wealthy families and built an embroidery building for his daughter. In fact, it is not a building at all. Su Xiaohong's family is a landlord.
She has no talent at all to be a lady, and she is even crazier than Lu Xiuer all the time. Su Hao can basically guess what her embroidery building will look like. It is probably scarier than the boys' dormitory in later generations of universities.
Lu Xiuer was taken to Hanwen's inner house by the maid Honglian, and she was so frightened that she could not walk. After arriving at the inner house, she met Hanwen's wife Song and her daughter Han Qian, chatted a few words about home affairs, and gradually relaxed.
Han Wen is a gentle and elegant person, and his family members are also of high quality. Lu Xiuer is only a 15-year-old girl after all, and does not have much scheming. When she sees others being kind to her, she quickly throws all her restraints away.
Han Wen's daughter Han Qian is one year older than Lu Xiu'er. She has been taught to read and read under the guidance of her father since she was a child. She is very talented. When she saw Lu Xiu'er's simple and innocent look, she fell in love with her immediately, and the two chatted for a few words.
, the sisters began to be like each other. Han Qian had heard her father talk about Su Hao's deeds before, and was quite curious about this young scholar who could predict the amount of water from the well. Now that she saw the scholar's sister, she would naturally not let it go.
, in a few words, all kinds of gossip about Su Hao were extracted from Lu Xiuer's mouth, but Lu Xiuer herself was completely unaware of it.
When the two were having fun, Han Wen sent someone to inform him that Su Hao had gone out and asked Lu Xiu'er to follow him. Han Qian did not ask the maid to send Lu Xiu'er off, but personally sent Lu Xiu'er to the county government office.
At the door. The social atmosphere in the late Ming Dynasty was very open. Young ladies like Han Qian did not stay in the boudoir compound all day long, but could move around and show their faces. The county government office was Han Qian's home. She was in the county government office.
You don't need to worry about anything when walking around.
After sending Lu Xiuer to the door, Han Qian glanced outside the door and caught up with Su Hao turning around. She quickly dodged to avoid it, lowered her head and hurriedly walked to the inner house. As she walked, she secretly thought in her heart
Read: This scholar is really young...
Su Hao stopped Lu Xiu'er, who was chatting endlessly about what happened in the magistrate's house, and said, "It's almost noon, let's go, let's go eat."
"No, Brother Hao, I brought dry food with me when I went out. Let's go back as soon as possible. The head of the village told me to drive the ox cart back as soon as I finish the work. He has other uses." Su Xiaohu said.
Su Hao nodded and said: "Forget it, in that case, then Xiaohu, you should go back first, Xiu'er and I will stay."
"Ah?" Lu Xiuer said in surprise, "Brother, you haven't finished your work yet?"
"The county magistrate's affairs are finished, but there are other things that need to be done." Su Hao said with a smile.
"When you came to the county seat, didn't you just meet the county magistrate? Now that the county magistrate has been met, what else is there?" Lu Xiuer asked in confusion.