Chapter 386: Silver Turns into Copper Coins (Reward for Book Friend "Xuehua")
Yang Heshu was also very happy and followed them out. Manbao said to Zhou Silang and Zhou Hu, "Go ahead. We'll wait for you in the straw hut."
Turning around, he said happily to Yang Heshu, "Do you want to go and see the cow we chose? Actually, it's not my favorite. I prefer the third bull standing to its left, but it's too expensive. But despite this, I still like it very much and will treat it well in the future."
Yang Heshu smiled and nodded, "Okay, let's go take a look."
He looked curiously in the direction Zhou Silang and the others had left and asked, "Where are your brothers going?"
“They go get the money.”
"Oh, is it a copper coin?"
Manbao nodded.
Yang Heshu thought he understood and asked with a smile, "You have quite a lot of people coming to buy a cow. Besides you three brothers and sisters, who else came?"
"My second brother, he's selling bamboo baskets and tofu over there."
"Hey, your family can make tofu?"
"Of course. Our tofu is delicious. It's the only one of its kind in the county, and we never make enough to sell."
Yang Heshu smiled and said, "Then I must try it when I get a chance."
The two chatted and went into the straw shed together to see the two cows they had chosen.
The official and the cowherd did not expect that the county magistrate would come in person, so they stood up quickly. When they saw that Manbao seemed familiar with them, their attitude towards Manbao and Zhou Wulang also became much better.
An official walked in front to lead them, and went into the straw shed to take over the cowherd's job.
Although Yang Heshu had no actual experience in judging cows, he had done his homework just like Manbao, so when he saw Manbao's cow, the first thing he asked about was its age and teeth.
The cowherd came in handy now. He squeezed to the front and talked incessantly. Yang Heshu kept nodding his head as he listened. It was different if you did your homework. Anyway, he understood everything, although he couldn't tell the difference between the teeth in the cow's mouth that the cowherd had opened.
Yang Heshu listened with great interest, looked at the cows Zhou Hu had chosen, and then asked someone to lead the two cows to the door of the straw shed.
The county seat of Luojiang County was not big, and the county government office and the pawnshop were on the same street, so Zhou Silang and Zhou Hu ran there and quickly ran back.
But when they left, they had no sacks on them, but when they came back, they were carrying a sack.
At this moment, he was carrying the money on Zhou Hu's shoulders, and Zhou Silang ran beside him. The two ran to the door of the straw hut. He first grinned at County Magistrate Yang, and then said, "We have brought all the money."
Zhou Silang put out the loan documents, took out five strings of copper coins from his bag, and then took out three strings of money, then looked at the official with a sharp gaze.
The clerk glanced at the credit document and confirmed that the money was bought on credit at the county government office. He did not think there was anything unusual and accepted the 3,500 coins given by him. Then he asked Zhou Silang to sign and seal the document, and then he could take the cow away.
After Zhou Silang signed, the official took the license plate off the cow's neck and handed it to him, saying, "Take it in and make a record."
Then he looked at Zhou Hu.
Zhou Hu didn't expect that he could actually buy the cow with copper coins. After a moment of hesitation, he immediately took out 3,200 coins from his bag and gave them to the official, and also signed the contract to take the cow.
Yang Heshu had been standing aside and watching. After a long silence, he looked at Manbao, gently tapped her with his finger and said with a smile: "You, you, I never thought that the first loss I, Yang Heshu, suffered after taking office would be caused by you."
"My Lord, you haven't suffered any loss. It may take me two years to pay back this money. Your interest rate is too high."
Yang Heshu shook his head. "This is already the lowest interest rate ever set."
"Precedents are always precedents set by others. Why don't you create your own precedent?"
Yang Heshu frowned, and after a long while he shook his head and said, "Not right, not right."
He was a newcomer to Luojiang County and also to the officialdom. The matter of buying cattle on credit was already outrageous enough, and now that it had set a precedent, he was afraid that his life would not be peaceful in the next few years.
Although he wouldn't leave in disgrace given his family background, it would still be annoying if someone was watching him no matter what he did.
Manbao looked back at the cattle filling the straw shed with regret and said, "If this continues, I'm afraid it will be difficult for you to sell more cattle on credit. No one is very brave, mainly because last year's natural disaster came suddenly. No one knows whether God will be kind this year."
Yang Heshu said, "Since there was a severe flood last year, there shouldn't be much rain this year."
Manbao nodded, "Yeah, so there might be a drought."
Yang Heshu stared.
Zhou Silang and Zhou Hu took out another document from the county government office, with happy faces.
Zhou Silang waved to her from a distance and said, "Manbao, everything is ready. We have a cow!"
Zhou Silang also had a good impression of Yang Heshu and said quickly, "Sir County Magistrate, the last time you came to our village, we didn't know you were the county magistrate. Next time you come, we will definitely treat you well. I will invite you back to my house for dinner, and I will give you all the bird eggs I have touched."
Yang Heshu smiled and expressed his gratitude. He asked Manbao, "I haven't eaten tofu for a long time. Is your second brother in the place that sells agricultural products?"
Zhou Silang immediately said cleverly, "Why would you send someone over? I'll bring it to you in a moment. Just tell me how much you want."
Yang Heshu thought for a moment and said, "We're entertaining some guests tonight, so bring some more. Take as much as you like."
After saying this, he asked the followers behind him to give him money.
The attendant then took out a string of copper coins and gave it to Zhou Silang.
Zhou Silang was shocked. Even though beans are a little more expensive now and tofu has risen to three cents a piece, there is no need to give him so much, right?
Zhou Silang asked quietly, "Excuse me, little brother, are there many people at the county magistrate's banquet?"
"Why do you ask that?"
"I just want to estimate how much tofu to send you."
The attendant said, "There are five or six people."
Zhou Silang immediately understood what was going on. The county magistrate looked so rich, so it was impossible for him to prepare a banquet with only one dish, right?
He thought for a moment, counted out thirty coins from the string, pushed the rest back, and said with a smile, "Don't worry, I'll personally deliver the tofu to you in a moment. Our tofu is cut into large pieces, and since grain is much more expensive these days, beans are also more expensive, so we sell them at three coins each. I'll send you twelve pieces in a moment. You can soak the extra and cook them tomorrow morning. Otherwise, you can also try our tofu. It's really authentic and delicious..."
The attendant waved his hand to show that he understood, took the remaining money and let Zhou Silang leave.
After the Zhou family members left, the attendant walked back to Yang Heshu and whispered, "Young Master, you seem quite honest and not greedy. You bought ten pieces of tofu for three cents a piece and got two extra pieces."
Yang Heshu nodded slightly and instructed, "Go to the silver shop and ask how many copper coins one ounce of silver can be exchanged for. By the way, besides the silver shop, where else can I exchange for copper coins?"
The attendant thought for a moment and said, "A pawn shop seems to be an option."
"Then ask them all at once."
(End of this chapter)
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