The rising sun is shining, reflecting the ancient texture of the old trees in the courtyard.
Wei Changtian opened his eyes and looked at Yang Liushi lying next to him, feeling a little dazed in the silence.
Last night was the first time in two months that he did not enter the "Dream Path" state when falling asleep, and it was also the first time that he slept with a woman without any precautions.
There was no hangover discomfort, so it was quite relaxing.
I just don't know when the next time I can sleep so peacefully will be.
He stood up and shook his head, and Yang Liushi slowly woke up at this time.
"Sir, are you awake?"
"Well, are you awake too?"
"OK."
The two exchanged a few nonsense words, and after looking at each other, they both felt a little funny.
Yang Liushi moved her body slightly, leaned on Wei Changtian's chest and said coquettishly:
"Sir, you almost tortured the slave family to death last night..."
"toss?"
Wei Changtian was stunned: "Am I not drunk?"
"Keke, where did the young master go?"
Yang Liushi patted Wei Changtian's arm and said with a smile: "I'm talking about undressing you, wiping your body, and helping you sleep."
"oh."
Wei Changtian didn't feel embarrassed and nodded, thinking that "drunk sex" really only exists in TV dramas.
Otherwise, if you are drunk, how can you still think about doing that kind of thing? It is hard to say whether the location can be found accurately.
Unless it was planned by one party.
After lying on the bed for a while, I declined Yang Liushi's invitation to have a "morning exercise" and got out of bed to get dressed.
When the two of them pushed open the door and walked out, they happened to meet Yuan'er and Achun waiting outside.
"Young Master, Sister Liu Shi..."
Of course, Yuan'er knew that Yang Liushi and Wei Changtian had an "adulterated affair", but the former did not have the same status as Lu Jingyao. Strictly speaking, her status was the same as that of her, the maid of the same house, so she always referred to her as "sister".
"Are you guys up? I'm going to prepare some warm water."
She hurriedly ran into the side room to pick up the kettle that was simmering on the stove, while Ah Chun stood beside him with a copper basin and waited.
However, this washbasin is indeed a bit big. It is better to hold it than to hold it.
"Ha ha ha ha."
Wei Changtian couldn't help but laugh twice. He went to the well to get a bucket of cold water and washed his face half-heartedly. When he looked up again, he happened to see a small head protruding from the wall.
Judging from the appearance, he should not be as old as Achun. He has two buns tied on the left and right sides of his head. He is a boy.
Is this the son of the widow next door?
Wei Changtian smiled at the boy. The latter was not afraid at all, his big eyes were full of novelty.
This house has been empty for a long time, and now so many people have moved in at once, it's normal to be curious.
"what's your name?"
Wei Changtian thought for a moment, then slowly walked to the wall and raised his head and asked, "How old are you this year?"
"..."
The boy tilted his head and looked over, and after a while he stretched out five chubby fingers.
Is he mute?
Wei Changtian paused, and at this moment, a call suddenly came from the courtyard next door.
"Ran'er!"
The voice of the middle-aged woman should be that of the poor widowed man.
Hearing his mother's call, the boy shrank his head and quickly disappeared behind the wall, followed by a faint sound like "What are you doing here?"
Wei Changtian was not interested in eavesdropping on others educating their children, so he shook his head and went inside to have breakfast.
Unexpectedly, my neighbor was even worse than imagined. Not only was there no man in the family, but the child was also mute.
If it were Xiao Feng, he would probably have gained another charming, considerate and virtuous widow.
But I had absolutely no such intention.
Even the yellow-flowered eldest daughter can't handle it. There is really no need to accept this offer.
Huh?
By the way, Zhang San is almost forty.
If he is willing, he can help match them up.
Glancing at Zhang San who was busy eating, Wei Changtian couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
I even help my employees solve their marital problems. I am such a good boss!
…
Compared with the capital, Shuzhou City seems to have a stronger urban atmosphere.
After everyone had had breakfast, all kinds of shouts rang out from the alley outside. They were all peddlers and peddlers.
Needles and threads, firewood, rice, oil, salt, fresh fruits and snacks are all available. If you want to buy something, you just need to say hello in the house and you can complete your shopping without leaving home.
It should be regarded as the predecessor of "purchasing on behalf of others".
Wei Changtian sat at the gate of the house with great interest and watched the salesmen coming and going for a while, and also bought a few bunches of candied haws.
The hawthorns at this time are a bit old, but they are very cheap, only five copper coins per bunch.
He asked for four strings, but it took him a long time to find that the least valuable money he had was five taels of small silver ingots. In the end, Yuan'er ran out and paid twenty copper coins.
"Crunch~"
After accepting the money with a smile on his face, the vendor quickly walked away carrying the straw stick.
"Honey hey hey hey - candied haws! It's not sweet and doesn't cost any money!"
Nine tunes and eighteen tunes, brown rope pry pole.
If we were to look back on the previous life, it would have been better if someone didn't call the police and "disturbed the residents" for this behavior of shouting and hawking at the gate of the community early in the morning.
Although there were no police at this time, the vendors were startled by the sudden appearance of two black carriages from the corner of the alley.
He hurriedly tried to dodge, but the alley was too narrow, and he finally fell to the ground.
Without enough time to check whether he was injured, the vendor quickly picked up the straw stick with the candied haws on it. Unfortunately, the straw stick had just fallen into the mud in the corner. The dozen or so candied haws on the stick were already covered with sticky black mud. It was obviously in serious danger.
"This this……"
He looked up at the two carriages with tears in his eyes. The "mirror" flag stuck on the roof of the carriages made him instantly give up the idea of going to ask for an explanation.
Just now, a gentleman bought four bunches of candied haws. The vendor thought he was lucky today, but in the blink of an eye, this happened...
well.
He sighed, patted his dusty clothes, and his slightly rickety figure slowly disappeared while carrying a bare straw stick.
And just when he limped around the alley and left thinking he was unlucky, the two "causing vehicles" also slowly stopped.
Seven or eight men in tiger dragon uniforms immediately ran to Wei Changtian and stood in front of Wei Changtian as soon as they got off the bus. They all bowed slightly nervously.
"Master Wei, why are you sitting here..."
Chen Bo forced out a smile, lowered his head and said, "I have taken the liberty of visiting you today, please forgive me."
"..."
The morning breeze blew through the two ancient locust trees in front of the door, and also lifted the corners of everyone's clothes.
Wei Changtian glanced at Chen Bo and said nothing, but continued to sit casually on the steps in front of the door, eating the candied haws in his hand.
"Click, click~"
The sound of the icing breaking was clearly heard in everyone's ears.
These usually arrogant "adults" of the Xuanjing Division seemed to have been cast by a restraining spell. They all still maintained their bowed postures, not even daring to express their anger.
At this time, in the side courtyard, a woman who, although not very handsome, looked like a good wife and mother, was quietly looking through the crack in the door, with a look of shock on her face.
She was holding a basket of eggs in one hand and holding a little boy in the other. She originally wanted to apologize for her son's "peeping" behavior this morning.
Unexpectedly, I ran into this scene just as I was about to go out.
Tiger dragon suit, mirror flag.
These are the officers of the Xuanjing Division. Why are they so respectful to the young master?
The late husband was a famous bodyguard in the city during his lifetime, so the woman was naturally immersed in the affairs of the world and understood the power of the Xuanjing Division.
But because of her understanding, she became more and more puzzled about the identity of this newly moved neighbor.
The woman couldn't help but look curiously for a while, but she felt that her behavior was very impolite, so she wanted to close the door and go back to the house to apologize to her son later.
But at this moment, the mysterious young man finally finished eating the candied haws and slowly stood up from the steps.
I saw him throwing away the bare wooden stick and saying to the trembling people in front of him:
"Not bad...come in."
not bad?
A somewhat inexplicable question suddenly popped up in the woman's mind.
Does this refer to the taste of candied haws?
still......
…
In the main hall with simple but not simple decoration, Yuan'er was serving tea to everyone one by one.
This is a normal thing, but everyone except Wei Changtian stood up slightly to support him when receiving the tea, and were extremely cautious and humble in every move.
Wei Changtian saw this and was not in a hurry to speak. After Yuan'er retreated, he looked at Chen Bo with a half-smile.
"Mr. Chen, bringing so many people to see me is quite impressive."
"Young Master is joking..."
Chen Bo, who was sitting on the left hand side, quickly apologized and said with a smile: "Yesterday many of my colleagues were away from the Yamen on missions. Today they heard that I was coming to pay homage to the Young Master, so they all rushed to follow me."
"Let me introduce to you, this is Wang Daochang of the Buyi Guards, with an official position of one thousand households; this is Zhang Zhongsheng of the Zongmi Department, with the same official position of one thousand households, this is..."
Soon Chen Bo introduced several people one by one.
Wei Changtian nodded indifferently, but he had already remembered all the names of several people in his heart.
One for Zhenfu, two for one thousand households, and five for one hundred households.
It is estimated that these are all the "high-level officials" of the Shuzhou branch of the Xuanjing Division.
There are more than 1,000 people with eight establishments of more than 100 households. This ratio is undoubtedly low compared to the capital's general government, but it is also normal.
After all, anyone who has been involved in the system knows that it is very difficult to get promoted at the grassroots level.
"Master Chen, you are here today just to let me recognize someone, are you?"
After taking a sip of tea, Wei Changtian smiled and said, "If that's the case, then I recognize them all now, and you can leave."
"Haha, if it's just such a trivial matter, we naturally don't dare to disturb the young master..."
In order to lighten the atmosphere, Chen Bo laughed stiffly twice, but the result was even more embarrassing.
Fortunately, he was thick-skinned enough, and after smiling, he waved to someone.
The latter immediately moved a large wooden box to the center of the room, took out the key and opened the lid of the box.
Wei Changtian had noticed this box a long time ago. He originally thought it was some kind of gold, silver and jewelry, but then he realized that it actually contained volumes of ledgers.
"Master Chen, what do you mean by this?"
"Sir, these are the accounts of all the properties owned by the Shuzhou Branch of the Xuanjing Division."
Chen Bo casually picked up a book and put it in front of Wei Changtian, and said with some pain: "Most of them are in Shuzhou City, and there are also some in other counties."
"oh?"
Wei Changtian's eyes lit up and he glanced at Chen Bo with interest: "It looks like a lot. What can you tell me about it?"
"yes."
Chen Bo introduced it like a treasure trove: "There are two gambling houses and two brothels..."
"Three rice shops, one pawn shop, one jewelry shop..."
"..."
Chen Bo's speaking speed was acceptable, but he didn't finish speaking after half a minute.
Wei Changtian became more and more surprised the more he listened.
Good guy, I'm just a good guy!
Food, clothing, housing, transportation, food, drink and entertainment, are they really all covered?
Although most of them only bought a few percent of the shares, the number was a bit too much!
"okay."
Interrupting Chen Bo, who was still chattering, he asked directly: "Just tell me, how much is the total net profit of these industries every year?"
"Almost one hundred thousand taels..."
After answering, Chen Bo was afraid that Wei Changtian would misunderstand, so he quickly added: "But after excluding the overhead of up and down management, there is not much left. It is just to subsidize the expenses of the department..."
How dare you say the subsidy cost...
The salary of the servants will be given by the court. After the money is earned, it will be used as "bonuses" for the subordinates, and most of it will not go into the pockets of you.
Of course, even though Wei Changtian thinks so, he definitely won't be obsessed with such things.
After all, the Wei family took the lion’s share of the “offering” part.
If you eat meat yourself, you can't deny the soup to others.
Looking at the account book in front of him, Wei Changtian did not open it, but smiled and asked knowingly: "Master Chen, it seems that you are not only accomplished in martial arts, but you are also a good hand in business."
"I just don't know why you want to show me these ledgers?"
"Of course I want to return these properties to their original owners and return them to the Young Master!" Chen Bo looked serious.
"Return the property to its original owner?"
Wei Changtian said amusedly: "I have never contributed a single effort or a penny, so where does this statement come from?"
"Young Master, what you said is wrong."
Chen Bo didn't feel distressed at this moment, and his tone was extremely serious.
"The entire Xuanjing Division belongs to the Wei family, let alone the mere business of this shop."
"Since the young master is a member of the Wei family, of course the property must be returned to its original owner!"
"..."
When it comes to this kind of thing, it's basically the same as spreading it out on the table.
Chen Bo made it clear that he wanted to show his loyalty by handing over "financial power" to prevent the perverse Wei Changzhen from writing a letter to Wei Xianzhi and having him raped or killed.
As for Wei Changtian, he has no interest in these industries at all.
Not to mention not knowing how to do business, the more important thing is that I am not short of money at all. From the beginning to the end, I just want to control the armed forces of Shuzhou Branch.
As for the expenses of these armed forces...whether it was court salary or private property subsidies, he didn't bother to care about it.
Thinking of this, Wei Changtian finally shook his head in the eyes of everyone.
"Master Chen, you'd better take this account book back."
"Master! We..."
Everyone never expected this result. For a moment, they thought Wei Changtian was determined to mess with them, and they couldn't help but be shocked.
But before they could say anything, they heard Wei Changtian continue:
"Don't panic, I will tell you the truth now..."
The way to govern is to use a stick and a carrot.
The "stick" has almost been beaten, and now it's time to give some carrots.