50 Acquisition Notice
◎ In order to become the prime minister, Mr. Hu studied at home every day for twenty years!◎
"Get out of the way! Someone who can read is coming!"
Outside the crowd stood a middle-aged man dressed like a scholar. While young men dressed like scholars often look elegant, his attire seemed a bit out of place. He waved his folding fan, stroked his beard, and shouted smugly, "Get out of the way! Get out of the way!"
Someone in the crowd didn't recognize the man and asked in a low voice who he was.
"Well, he—"
Before he finished speaking, the middle-aged man couldn't wait to push the crowd aside and said, "How dare you! I'm the only scholar in Dongxiang!"
He snorted coldly as he pushed his way through the crowd. He looked down at the man who didn't recognize him and said, "I'm destined to be the Prime Minister. You don't even recognize me. What are you still doing here?"
The middle-aged man shook his messy hair and pouted at the person beside him: "You, tell him who I am."
Aunt Wang, who had been chosen, rolled her eyes. She gathered Erya beside her, tightened the bamboo basket slung over her arm, and said in a strange voice, "Oh, you haven't heard of him! This is Mr. Hu from Dongxiang High School!"
Aunt Wang deliberately emphasized the word "high school" and raised her eyebrows, sneering, "You look young and must have never heard of Mr. Hu's deeds. Oh my, that's really extraordinary!
When Mr. Hu was only three or five years old, a fortune teller predicted his "noble" fate of becoming a prime minister!
So you see, in order to become the prime minister, Mr. Hu studied at home every day for twenty years!"
Aunt Wang's words were full of sarcasm. She had always looked down on Mr. Hu, who relied on the fact that he could read a few words and was either lazy at home or having fun with his friends outside. He had never done any work for his poor father.
Ever since this man passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, he has become even more arrogant. He looks down on everyone and mentions every day that he is destined to be a prime minister. He is never nice to anyone. For various reasons, Hu Xiucai is now in his forties and still single.
Aunt Wang has to help "publicize" such a person.
Hu Xiucai snorted coldly, "Of course. Let me help you illiterate people to understand what is written on the notice."
He glanced at it and then nonchalantly stated the contents of the notice: "It's just the county magistrate looking for an opportunity for everyone to make money."
Mr. Hu looked down upon these business affairs. Among the four classes of people, scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, he was destined to be an official!
What's more, why would this idiot county magistrate come to Lingnan County? If she hadn't come, with my status as a scholar and the fate of being a prime minister, it would be a real demotion for me to condescend to serve as a county magistrate! And this group of mediocre people would have taken advantage of me!
He scoffed at the matter, but the people gathered around the notice were cheering.
Others were scratching their heads anxiously: "What! County Magistrate Ye found an opportunity to make money? What opportunity? Tell me quickly!"
Hu Xiucai adopted his previous attitude again: "How dare you speak to me like that? How rude!"
One man couldn't wait any longer and took advantage of the chaos to push Hu Xiucai to the ground: "How can a scholar in his forties have the fate of becoming a prime minister? Pah!"
Hu Xiucai suddenly fell to the ground, looking dazed. He pointed at the man and said, "You! You! You! You! How rude!"
"What do you mean by "me"? You're so old, why are you still acting so arrogant? You might as well go home and do some farm work for your father!"
I don’t know if the crowd was trying to read the notice, or if someone disliked him, but the situation became more and more crowded and chaotic, and the fallen Hu Xiucai was kicked several times.
He rolled out of the crowd, his face covered in dust and dirt, pointing at them: "You! You! You are so vulgar!"
No one was listening to him anymore. They all started talking: "Liu Yamen, tell us what ways Magistrate Ye has found to make money!"
Liu Mazi was about to speak when he heard Erya say slowly, "Grandma, I recognize the words on it."
Liu Mazi knew that Erya was learning to read at the county school, so he asked curiously, "Oh, then please take the trouble for our little Erya to read."
Aunt Wang quickly tugged at Erya's sleeve and said to Liu Mazi with a smile, "Liu Yayi, don't take it seriously. My child has just learned to read two words and is bragging here. Please tell us about it."
Everyone started laughing. A woman nearby pinched Erya's face and said with a smile, "I think Erya is quite clever."
Liu Yamen said with a smile, "Okay, let me talk to everyone this time. Winter is almost here, and in previous years, every household either didn't have enough to eat or didn't have warm clothes. But this year, things are better! While it hasn't snowed yet, County Magistrate Ye has signed a contract with a large restaurant in Yuezhou City to come to the county every three days to buy water chestnuts."
Water chestnut?
Aunt Wang was stunned. Isn’t this the one she found with County Magistrate Ye last time?
Before she could think about it, someone asked, "Liu Yayi, how about the price... the price?"
Aunt Wang, like everyone else, pricked up her ears. She only heard Liu Mazi say with a smile, "I know everyone is concerned about this. Don't worry, County Magistrate Ye can still make everyone earn less."
"I asked, and each jin of water chestnuts costs seven cents!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd instantly became excited!
Seven coins! Seven coins!
A pound of water chestnuts can be sold for seven coins! If you hurry up and pick more, you might even earn enough to buy a set of cotton clothes!
Seeing everyone ready to fight, Liu Mazi quickly stopped them: "Don't leave so quickly, I haven't finished talking yet!"
Someone laughed and said, "Liu Yayi, please tell us quickly, don't delay us from making money!"
The crowd burst into laughter.
Liu Mazi said, "Everyone, listen carefully to what I'm about to say. This is all about making money. First, the restaurant only wants fresh water chestnuts. They can be left at home for a maximum of two days. If they're left for longer than that, they won't accept them! Second, we'll only accept five pounds of water chestnuts from each household at a time. No more than that."
This was something Ye Yunzhao specifically instructed. Although fresh water chestnuts have a higher flour yield, she was mainly afraid that the people would pick all the water chestnuts at once. Wouldn't that mean the business would be gone in the future?
Besides, they were also worried that some families would flee to the mountains day and night because of the water chestnuts. As the weather turned cold, the wild animals in the mountains would have little to eat, which could easily lead to accidents. Furthermore, the business Ye Yunzhao and Chen Jingshan were doing was for the benefit of the people of Lingnan County. If only a few families profited, the others who were slow to act would not make any money, which would go against their original intention.
When Ye Yunzhao told Liu Mazi about this decision, he couldn't accept it at first. It sounded like a fantasy. Liu Mazi even thought she was a bit "old-fashioned". Such a great thing, why not just tell the people and care which family makes money and which one doesn't? Wouldn't that cause trouble for herself?
Later, after listening to Ye Yunzhao's explanation, Liu Mazi understood it. However, in this way, the people benefited greatly, but County Magistrate Ye suffered some trouble. Who knows, there might be people who don't understand!
Look, there are some people who are really unhappy.
"Liu Yayi, what do you mean by this? I understand as long as it's fresh, but why only five pounds at a time? That's too little!"
"Yes, Liu Yayi, could this be an idea from County Magistrate Ye? We are still trying to save money to buy cotton-padded clothes..."
"That's right... Why is County Magistrate Ye like this? She has no shortage of food or clothing..."
Liu Mazi's eyes widened with anger, and he roared like a lion, "What are you talking about! If it weren't for County Magistrate Ye, how would you make money?
"Okay, okay, I've got this. Since you guys think five pounds is too little, I'll have to explain clearly when the restaurant comes to collect the water chestnuts in three days. I absolutely cannot accept yours! You can sell them wherever you want!"
There must be some reasons why Liu Mazi could become a small leader among ordinary yamen runners.
Just look at Liu Mazi, who is eight feet tall, with a waist as thick as an ox and strong muscles that are about to burst out. He is a head taller than ordinary people. Now that he got angry, the men who were talking behind his back were immediately speechless.
One of them, with a discerning eye, immediately said, "Ye Yi Liu, please don't be angry. I just spoke without thinking. I haven't had time to thank County Magistrate Ye, so how could I blame her? I... I... I deserve to be beaten!"
As the man spoke, he raised his hand and slapped himself twice in the face with a fawning look, fearing that he would ruin his chance of making money.
Liu Mazi snorted coldly, "From now on, if anyone dares to talk nonsense or gossip, and I find out about it, they will bear the consequences themselves."
After this little commotion, everyone rushed home, some carrying baskets, some carrying bamboo baskets. "Didn't you hear clearly? Just now, the yamen runner Liu said clearly that someone would come to collect the things in three days!" Naturally, everyone hurried back up the mountain.
Aunt Wang stood there, frowning slightly as if she was thinking about something.
Although purchasing water chestnuts is a good way to make money, but! What's going on with County Magistrate Ye!
It was clearly me who took her to look for water chestnuts. Why couldn't she have kept this great news to herself? Why did she even put up a notice? Now everyone knows about it.
The more Aunt Wang thought about it, the angrier she became. If she hadn't helped County Magistrate Ye find the water chestnuts last time, how could the whole county be able to make money now? This money should clearly have been earned by her!
Seven coins per catty! Even if each household collected five catties of water chestnuts, that would be thirty-five coins. There would be at least two or three hundred households in the county collecting chestnuts, which would be one or two hundred catties. That would be seven or eight hundred coins!
The more Aunt Wang thought about it, the colder she felt, and the more uncomfortable she felt. She had thrown away seven or eight hundred coins in vain!
She staggered a little. No, she had to go find County Magistrate Ye and have a good talk with him!
Aunt Wang did what she said and dragged Erya to the county government office. At this moment, Erya pointed at the notice and asked in confusion, "Grandma, I really know the words on it. Why don't you believe me?"
Seeing her tilt her head and speak so confidently, Aunt Wang felt a wave of disbelief. She looked up at the ghostly scribbles on the notice and said, "Er Ya, do you really recognize it? Read it to Grandma."
Erya nodded and read word by word. Occasionally, when she came across a word she didn't recognize, she looked at Aunt Wang and said, "Grandma, I don't recognize this word."
Aunt Wang was delighted to hear Erya read more and more. She bent down and hugged Erya, saying in surprise, "Tell grandma how you can recognize so many words."
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