Chapter 216 Is That the County Magistrate?

Magistrate Lu asked, "Where is the cassava?"

Ye Caiping said: "Come on, I'll take you there."

Ye Caiping quickly asked Ye Daquan to pull the ox cart out, and finally went to her own fields with County Magistrate Lu.

After two quarters of an hour, I finally stood on the ridge of the field.

Magistrate Lu looked at the cassava stalks that had already grown tender leaves, then raised his head to see the endless fields, and nodded.

Then, he returned to Ye Caiping's home and saw the several cassava trees planted by Ye Caiping in the vegetable garden.

Immediately, Magistrate Lu asked a yamen runner to dig out one and cook it, and found that it indeed had a yellow heart.

County Magistrate Lu was so happy that his face was all smiles.

After Ye Caiping treated them to lunch, Magistrate Lu and his entourage left.

Mrs. Du came out from the kitchen: "Who are these people?"

Ye Caiping did not explain too much. After all, many people knew about it and she was afraid that she would let it slip. So she said, "He is an important client of mine. My sisters-in-law will know about it in the future."

Mrs. Du nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

…

Li Zhiyuan and Li Zimo had just finished school and were riding on a donkey cart back home.

From a distance, they saw Magistrate Lu and his entourage riding horses passing by them.

After they walked away, Li Zhiyuan asked, "Is that the county magistrate?"

Li Zimo had also met the county magistrate. When they left the Sun family last year, they had gone to the government office to cause trouble. So he naturally knew him: "It seems so."

"What is the county magistrate doing here? Look at the direction...isn't it...going to Qinghe Village?" Li Zhiyuan frowned.

Li Zimo held his breath and said, "There are He'an Village and Qiaotou Village ahead. After crossing the bridge, there are Qiaowei Village and Wangjia Village, and finally Qinghe Village."

What he meant was that there were plenty of villages ahead, and they were not the county magistrate, so no one would keep an eye on Qinghe Village all day.

Besides, they might not necessarily go into the village, they might just be passing by.

Li Zhiyuan, however, felt very uncomfortable. No matter what the matter was, the first person he thought of was Ye Caiping.

How come that bitch can run such a prosperous workshop? Just passing by Lijia Village, he saw countless merchants coming in and out transporting goods in a month.

Since that grain harvest, the Li family has now stabilized.

He was a scholar and was exempt from land tax on 50 acres of land. Originally, his family used 15 acres of land, and the remaining 35 acres was given to Zhang's rich family.

Since that grain harvest, Li Zhiyuan also came to his senses.

You can’t use all of your tax-free quota to please your father-in-law.

He took back the 10-acre land quota from the Zhang family and gave them to Li Gouwa's family and another villager's family, asking them to help him with farming and harvesting. But the routine weeding and watering are not included.

Fortunately, Li Jiaojiao has a bootlicker like Li Gouwa, who occasionally helps Li Zhiyuan water and weed the fields. Although the management is not very good, it is better than no one managing it.

Now with Li Gou Wa taking care of the fields outside and Gu Han doing the housework, Li Zhiyuan and Li Jiaojiao have a pretty leisurely life, except that they are a little short of money.

…

After Magistrate Lu left, Ye Caiping prepared new fishing bait at home.

"Aunt, there's another carriage coming outside!" Xiaoyan ran in again.

Ye Caiping looked up: “Chen Manman?”

She walked out, but saw a servant she didn’t recognize, the carriage was very new, and it wasn’t Shen Manman.

When the servant saw Ye Caiping, he stepped forward with a smile:

"Madam Ye, I'm from the City Horse Company. This is the carriage you ordered! I'm so sorry it took so long to deliver."

Ye Caiping suddenly realized that she had ordered a carriage: "It's a month later than expected."

The servant smiled and said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. You ordered the horses on February 24th, and you should have received them before March 15th. But by then, the horses had been supplied to the northwest first. This is an order from the government, so we have to postpone it."

Ye Caiping nodded. Ye Daquan had asked about this at the horse trading company in mid-March, and received the same answer then.

He also said that if I didn’t want it, I could get the 10 taels deposit back.

Ye Caiping did not retreat. After all, Ma Xing had no choice but to wait as the government had ordered him to do so.

The servant said, "In order to compensate Madam Ye for her loss, our horse shop is willing to reduce the price by one tael of silver."

Ye Caiping nodded: "Okay! But you have to stay here for a while and teach my brother how to drive a horse."

Unexpectedly, the servant was even happier: "No problem. Since you want to learn, you can drive me around the village for a few times and then take me back to the city. This will allow me to learn more and test the horse's endurance. How do you do that?"

Ye Caiping smiled: "Okay."

At this time, Mrs. Du, Old Lady Ye and others had already heard the news. Looking at the carriage in front of them, they chatted happily.

"What a handsome horse! So tall and big!"

"Can I touch it?"

"Of course, Auntie, feel free to touch me."

“Oh, you can really touch it.”

"This fur is so smooth!"

Several people touched the horse's body and head, but the horse was not angry and was in a very good mood.

Ye Caiping became more and more satisfied with the horse. The horse was a very ordinary dark brown color, with smooth hair and clear eyes. It was not only strong but also gentle in character.

Ye Daquan got on the carriage, sat in front of the shaft, followed the servant to learn how to drive the horse, and drove around the village.

"Wow, it's a horse-drawn carriage. Uncle Daquan, is this yours?" The children in the village all had bright eyes when they saw the carriage.

"Yes, it's my little sister's!" Ye Daquan pulled the reins proudly.

Although there were many horse-drawn carriages coming in and out of the Hu La Tang workshop, they were not from the village, and the children did not dare to approach them when they saw them.

Now it was Ye Caiping who was being listened to. The children in the village passed the song to each other, and then all of them chased after the carriage with laughter. It was so lively.

After walking around, Ye Caiping came back and said with a smile: "Brother, how do you feel?"

Ye Daquan smiled widely: "It's similar to herding cattle, but the horses walk more lightly and faster."

"Then let's go around a few more times and then send this guy back to the city."

Ye Caiping finished speaking and took out a purse: "This is the balance."

The original price was 53 taels, one tael less, so it would be 52 taels. I had already given a deposit of 10 taels, so I only had to pay 42 taels.

The boy took the purse, counted it, and said with a smile, "Thank you, auntie."

Ye Daquan walked around with the boy twice, then called Old Man Ye and went to the provincial capital together.

…

With a carriage, it became much more pleasant to take Ye Xuan and the maids to class, and it was both fast and comfortable.

The county exam is just a few days away, and everyone in the family is on edge.

Ye Xuan was also nervous, thinking that Shen Zhiyan would give him extra lessons.

In the end, Mr. Shen was as unhurried as usual and only worked for half a day.

On the morning of April 13, he directly threw a few test questions at him, told him to go home after answering them, and then ran away in a hurry.

riverside.

Shen Zhiyan looked at the new fishing rod that Ye Caiping gave him and was very curious: "This kind of one with wheels is the first time I have seen it."

Ye Caiping said, "When a fish takes the bait, you can just spin it. You can adjust the tension and looseness as you like. It can also be thrown far. Here, this is a new bait."

Then he took out a small basin.

Shen Zhiyan sat down, added new bait to the reel, and started fishing.

Ye Caiping looked at him and said, "Aren't you in class at this time?"

She had clearly made an appointment for the afternoon, but Duanwu went to her house and knocked on the door early in the morning.

Shen Zhiyan: “Let him do the questions.”

Ye Caiping said, "He will soon take the county and prefectural examinations."

"Well, then go take the test. As long as he doesn't get sick, he'll pass." As he said this, he snorted:

"I spent two whole months on him. If I can't even get a Tongsheng, would I be unworthy of the name Shen Zhiyan?"

Ye Caiping's mouth twitched slightly. Is two months a long time? Other teachers are paid by the years, and teaching for three to five years is too little, and more than ten to twenty years is normal!

And he checked his conscience, is it two months?

Only half a day of class! Today I even skipped half a day!