Provocation tactic.

Jiang Mingzhu thought her mother was really naive to use such a method.

How could my brother really fall for it?

"I will pass."

Jiang Mingzhu stared at the person who suddenly stood up, her mouth slightly agape in surprise, "Ah..."

"You can rest assured."

Gu An'an laughed, "It doesn't matter if you don't pass the exam. You can always come back and inherit our Gu's Food Shop."

This isn't a goading tactic.

Jiang Mingzhu watched the mother and son fighting on the stage. Instead of panicking, she was somewhat curious about what was going on.

My brother always says that a gentleman stays away from the kitchen, although he's been disciplined by our mother for the past six months and isn't as "obsessive-compulsive" anymore.

But asking him to be a merchant running a food shop is somewhat of a stretch.

really……

“Of course I wouldn’t dare to compete with Mother. It’s better for Mother to run this food shop.”

Jiang Mingyi's voice was cold and clear, "I still have books to read. Just call me if you need anything, Mother."

"Go, study hard, and try your best to bring back a top scholar title for your mother."

The two women inside the house clearly saw Jiang Mingyi, who was walking out, pause in his steps.

As for Bao'er, she was completely unaware and didn't know what the top spot on the table was; she was simply there cheering on her brother.

"Keep it up, brother! You'll definitely get the top score."

The slightly childish voice stirred the tenderness deep within the young man's heart. With his back to the three women in his home, Jiang Mingyi smiled faintly and walked straight out.

"I will."

He spoke to the summer evening breeze, and to the starry sky.

Let heaven and earth bear witness and serve as proof—

Jiang Mingyi will surely grow stronger and stronger, protecting his family under his wings and never letting them be bullied again!

...

The next day, Gu An'an took out a silver note worth five hundred taels.

Buying piglets and building a pigsty won't cost that much; consider the rest as toll money.

Let Magistrate Du protect Gu's Food Shop.

When Gu An'an arrived at the county government office, she discovered that Magistrate Du hadn't been resting either. Yesterday afternoon, he had gone to find a plot of land, the five hundred mu of farmland near the county government office.

“I think we raise a lot of pigs, so we’ll have a lot of pig manure. As you said, Madam Gu, pigs eat a lot and poop a lot, so we can spread the pig manure on the fields and maybe our 500 acres of crops will have a good harvest.”

Gu An'an felt that Magistrate Du's face was filled with the words "Look at this clever little devil."

She couldn't help but laugh, "As expected, you've thought things through thoroughly, sir."

"Hey, stop teasing me. I just think that if we have more income, our official school can be established."

With General An's order, the Anping County government lost all revenue. He survived the first winter thanks to his upright character. It wasn't easy for him either.

If raising pigs makes money, the government-run school can be established, and then the whole of Anping County will get better and better.

That's right, that's how it is.

He was quite intolerant of it.

Gu An'an then realized that while General An's decision to exempt the people of Anping County from taxes was indeed a boon to the county, it also had far-reaching consequences.

On the one hand, government offices need to operate, and all of this money has to come from taxes.

Otherwise, what would everyone eat and drink?

"At first, General An did give me ten thousand taels of silver, but that money wasn't enough. Don't look at me like that. It's not that I embezzled the money. Anping County isn't a big or small county, but it has nearly two hundred thousand people. All these people come to the government office for all sorts of things, big and small. I can't just not do them, can I?"

Everyone knows that General An is a good man, and the people of the county have also become attached to him.

As expected, with all sorts of big and small matters to deal with, the ten thousand taels of silver were quickly depleted.

Even so, the people still didn't believe it.

Gu An'an sighed, "I can imagine that ten thousand taels of silver is more than a family can spend in a lifetime, but for thousands of families, what is this amount of money?"

"Yes," Magistrate Du sighed. "We have no choice but to take this money. My clerk and I have managed to get some land to cultivate, otherwise we won't be able to find any runners in our county office."

Without money, who will do the work for you?

Upon hearing this, Gu An'an suddenly remembered something. If being a constable was not a good job, why did Jiang Yongshan pay money to get into the yamen before?

Could it be that someone tricked me?

That's not impossible.

Gu An'an originally wanted to ask another question, but the way Magistrate Du reminisced about the past made her silent, and she didn't ask anything further. "Things are better now, at least there is still grain in the warehouse. If you can't come up with money, you can give some grain instead."

With Gu An'an's five hundred taels of silver, there was more than enough to buy piglets and build a pigsty.

Thinking of this, Magistrate Du felt a surge of pride. "General An is certainly a good man. I know he has some conflicts with our Emperor, so his actions are often unpredictable. But how should I put it? I'm just a lowly seventh-rank official. These things have nothing to do with me."

Magistrate Du chuckled. "Let's not talk about that. By the way, Madam Gu, I don't see any calluses on your hands. How did you know that?"

He was referring to those farm tools.

Some of these farming tools have never been seen in Anping County.

He even wanted to hire a carpenter to do the promotion.

Gu An'an didn't expect to encounter such a meticulous person who even noticed that she didn't have calluses on her hands. Gu An'an smiled and said, "I just noticed it and these thoughts came to mind. I don't know if I'm right or wrong. To be honest, Magistrate Du, I don't know what kind of official you are, so when dealing with you, I always have to find a way to make you have this intention, right? That's why I spoke a bit boldly."

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