Chapter 2968 Don’t Worry
Bai Shan looked around and saw that there were quite a few people, so he kept it a secret, "You'll know when you get here, brother."
Beihai County is not far from Qingzhou City, but the princess and her husband had many carriages with them, so they had to go a little slower. By the time they arrived in Beihai County, it was already past noon.
The prince disliked them because of this. If they hadn't been a burden, he would have taken his men and rode at full speed to reach Qingzhou a few days earlier.
It was also because of this that the prince wanted to keep his men in Qingzhou and not take them on inspection tours. Of course, Mingda and Bai Erlang had never thought of following him on the inspection tour.
The prince walked along the main street of Beihai County, turned around and said to Bai Shan: "Your county is really poor."
Bai Shan: "...Your Highness, this is also the territory of Dajin."
No matter how poor it is, it is still a place of the Great Jin.
The prince said nothing. After dismounting from his horse at the county government office, he did not go in. Instead, he said directly to Bai Erlang Mingda, "We are going to the salt fields right away."
The meaning is obvious, do you want to go?
If you don't want to go, just stay and rest.
Mingda immediately said, "Let them stay and pack their things. We will go with the Crown Prince."
The prince made a "tsk" sound and turned to look at Bai Shan.
Bai Shan saw County Magistrate Fang and County Lieutenant Dong, who had been waiting at the county government office gate with their officials.
So he waved someone over and asked, "Where is lunch arranged?"
County Magistrate Fang only dared to look up slightly to see the hem of the prince's clothes. Hearing this, he bowed and said, "I have reserved a table at Zhaoji Restaurant. They should be ready by now. The nobles and the adults can enjoy the meal as soon as they arrive."
Bai Shan nodded in satisfaction and asked Liu Gui, who had followed him back, to arrange the carriage and luggage. He then took County Magistrate Fang and County Lieutenant Dong and asked everyone to move to Zhao Ji.
Beihai County is very small, and Zhaoji and the county government office are on the same street, so it doesn’t take much time to walk there.
The yamen runners stopped people along the street and allowed them to reach Zhao Ji unimpeded.
Such a big commotion is rare for Beihai County, which has always been remote and quiet, so many people ran out to watch the excitement despite the scorching sun in the sky.
Even if they were stopped by the yamen runners on the street and could only stand under the eaves to watch the nobles riding by on horseback, they were still content.
But… “What kind of officials are these nobles? They are so powerful. I think our county magistrate and Lord Zhou will have to follow behind.”
"I don't know, but this official robe, red, green, purple, and so many colors, shows that he must be a high-ranking official."
"How can anyone be greater than the Governor? By the way, what color uniform does the Governor wear?"
"Deep green? Even greener than our county magistrate?"
The county school students who had sneaked out to watch the excitement almost vomited blood when they heard this. They whispered, "The governor is wearing a dark crimson, the same red as Lord Zhou's."
When the people heard this, they shouted and asked, "Is Mr. Zhou's official rank the same as the governor's?"
The students at the county school knew more. They explained in a low voice, "If he were just an official from the Medical Department, he should wear green uniforms, the same as the white county magistrate. But Lord Zhou is also an editor at the Chongwen Academy, a fourth-rank official, so he can also wear dark crimson."
"Mr. Zhou's rank is higher than County Magistrate Bai's!"
"Isn't that just a gigolo?"
"Quietly..."
County school students: ...That's not what they said. Bai Shan is also capable. He just entered the officialdom a few years later. His future is limitless, even more promising than Zhou Man.
However, this was too troublesome to explain. They felt that the current situation did not allow them to say so much, so they silently looked at the people who kept walking through the center of the street and ignored the ordinary people who asked questions.
The people nearby thought that these gentlemen agreed with what they said, and their eyes rolled around, with all kinds of thoughts and guesses.
The students began to talk among themselves, "Who was that man in the purple robe who just rode by?"
"I don't know. He looks so young, but he's already a high-ranking official?"
"I've never heard of a minister in the court who is so young."
County Magistrate Fang rode at full speed and returned to the county town half an hour earlier than them.
As soon as he entered the city, he went straight to Zhaoji. After booking the entire restaurant, he also called in the chefs from two nearby restaurants to join him. "Dear guest from the capital, no matter what method you use, prepare ten tables of meals within half an hour. It doesn't have to be expensive, but it must include meat, vegetables, and soup. It must be delicious and safe."
He said, "If you do well, the county magistrate will reward you later. If you don't do well, you'd better tell me now. Otherwise, if you accept the job and then turn around and quit, I won't let you off even if you don't tell the county magistrate."
Because of these words, the shopkeepers and chefs of the three families did not dare to be negligent and worked together to carefully prepare ten tables of meals.
At this time, Bai Shan and others came in. There were only two main dishes left on each table. The others were already prepared and placed on the table. They could be eaten as long as they opened the plates.
When the prince was away from home, he was not particular about food. He just wanted it to be fast and taste good. But seeing that Bai Shan prepared it so well, he couldn't help but nod slightly, and then sat down at the main table.
This time, Governor Guo had the honor of sitting next to the prince, and Bai Shan and Zhou Man also sat beside him.
Tang He and the others sat at another table. After looking Zhao Ji up and down, he smiled and said, "Not bad. He doesn't look too poor."
County Magistrate Lu looked at County Assistant Secretary Fang in surprise, as he knew that County Assistant Secretary Fang was capable.
He originally promoted him from the position of chief clerk because he wanted to use him to fight against the Song family, but he didn't expect that he would be so capable. Was this prepared when Bai Shan was away?
The guards and palace servants brought by the prince also found a place to sit downstairs. County Magistrate Fang and County Lieutenant Dong retreated from the second floor to the first floor and greeted everyone downstairs.
After Bai Shan took office, he handed over many things to County Magistrate Fang and County Lieutenant Dong. As long as it was within the scope of their responsibilities, they could make their own decisions.
Especially County Magistrate Fang. Bai Shan went to the countryside every few days, and the county affairs were basically handed over to County Magistrate Fang. So Bai Shan asked him to take a shortcut back to the county town and act according to the circumstances. He dared to use the limited public funds in the county government to book a restaurant to prepare meals. If he was under the command of another county magistrate, he would not dare to do this without accurate orders.
County Magistrate Fang dared to do this simply because he knew that no matter whether he did the right thing or the wrong thing, Bai Shan would cover for him and would never push him out to take the blame.
As soon as he sat down, the prince was no longer in a hurry. He turned his head to look out the window. The yamen runners outside were no longer stopping the people on the street. They were just guarding outside the restaurant and not letting anyone in.
The place became lively again. Some people even set up their stalls opposite the restaurant and downstairs. Perhaps they noticed his gaze, and the people below started shouting their wares very loudly.
The prince found it very amusing and said to Bai Shan, "You county folks are quite courageous."
(End of this chapter)
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