Chapter 41 Changshan Zhao Yun
Do you dare to give it a try?
Since Yang Xiu dared to run away from home, how could he not dare to give it a try!
But when he thought about it, he felt that there was some kind of cause and effect. Last time he challenged Qiao Yan on the street, and now Qiao Yan gave him a test.
The comparison between the inside and outside of the tripod made Qiao Yan famous because of Xu Shao's particularly amazing evaluation. Now -
Now it is finally time for Yang Xiu to show his abilities here because he has successfully passed the test!
If he could complete the task of purchasing corn, he would undoubtedly have made a great contribution under Qiao Yan's command. Wouldn't that give him even more legitimate reasons to stay here?
Yang Xiu thought about this and made a decision immediately: "Why not? I will definitely do a great job for Lord Qiao."
He had finally made it here. If he hadn't even made it to Leping and was sent back as soon as he arrived in Taiyuan, he would definitely be ridiculed by his friends in Luoyang City.
What's more, he came here with the idea of reversing the negative record that might have been caused by the previous fight, and he didn't want to end up in failure.
But it wasn't as if he agreed to it out of sheer passion.
He still considered it.
After thinking about what Qiao Yan said about gold and the purchase of corn, he asked, "May I ask Lord Qiao, is the purchase of 10,000 dan of corn only in such a large quantity, or do we need to keep people in the dark about the grain going to Leping?"
Although Yang Xiu did not personally experience the Yellow Turban Rebellion, he did know that at least when they left Luoyang, the chaos in various places were still being put out one after another. He also heard the conversation between Qiao Yan and Bao Hong in the car and knew that the area nearby was not safe either.
In this case, if such a large amount of grain is sent to Leping so conspicuously, there is no guarantee that it will not be plundered by bandits the next day.
Yang Xiu was able to clearly see Qiao Yan's potential needs.
"It would be best if people didn't know that the grain was being sent to Leping," Qiao Yan replied.
"Okay!" Yang Xiu said, "I accept this challenge, but I need two things from Lord Qiao."
He didn't say anything directly about handing over the gold to him. He just started to carry out his plan, which made Qiao Yan quite satisfied. "Tell me about it."
"First, I am too young after all. If I rashly go to discuss a deal, people will inevitably look down on me. They may even think that I am a child carrying gold through the market, and I am clearly an easy target. So I need Marquis Qiao and Captain Bao to lend me a few men."
Qiao Yan nodded and replied, "I can lend you Dian Wei, and ask General Bao to lend you some men."
Although Yang Xiu had never seen Dian Wei's abilities, his physique and deterrence had already left a deep impression on him when they met on the streets of Luoyang before. Getting such a helper at this time would undoubtedly be extremely beneficial to the implementation of his plan.
He was delighted and said, "The second thing is, when I pass Linfen, I'm afraid I'll have to wash myself properly."
As he spoke, his face turned bitter.
As expected, not surprisingly, when he finished saying this, the soldiers around him all laughed.
Yang Xiu had been living a life of luxury since he was born. When had he ever looked so miserable?
Fortunately, he was discovered early and had only been in the carriage for less than a day. He even sneaked out for a while last night when the driver was asleep. Otherwise, he would have looked even more miserable than he does now.
But even so, he felt as if his whole body had been marinated by the smell of the coffin and spices carried in the carriage.
Not having a good sleep for two consecutive nights also made him feel very bad.
If you really go about business in this way, you will probably be looked down upon and may easily say something inappropriate.
So naturally I have to dress up a bit more presentably after a rest.
Others could laugh, but Qiao Yan could not laugh at Yang Xiu's behavior at this time. She calmly replied: "After leaving Chenguan Pass, the team had to rest for a while. Even if you didn't mention it, I would not forget it."
Yang Xiu breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, when we get to Taiyuan, I will help Lord Qiao to complete this deal."
What made him relieved was not only that he had the opportunity to stay in the team, but also that he could finally follow the team openly.
He turned around and bowed deeply towards Qiao Xuan's carriage to apologize, then sat next to the driver.
Then everyone saw him leaning against the carriage, holding the packages he had just packed, looking absent-minded. It was obvious that he was thinking about how to purchase this batch of corn at a relatively low price.
Cheng Li glanced at him and asked Qiao Yan, "Why does Lord Qiao think this kid can accomplish this?"
Qiao Yan replied, "Yang Xiu was praised by Xu Shao as a man of quick wits, which shows that he is indeed quite quick-witted."
No matter how Cheng Li looked at it, he found this scene somewhat interesting.
When Qiao Yan mentioned that Yang Xiu had quick wit, she clearly did not speak in the tone of one who was evaluating a peer. Instead, it sounded like she was evaluating a younger subordinate in the tone of an elder or a superior. However, in fact, the two men were only one year apart in age.
However, he got used to this kind of thing after seeing it twice, since he had seen her teach Xu Fu before.
Now is obviously not the time to worry about this.
He then asked, "If Qiao Hou were to do this himself, how would he lower the price of the corn and get a more satisfactory harvest?"
Qiao Yan smiled and said, "I tested Yang Xiu, now it's Mr. Zhongde's turn to test me?"
Seeing Cheng Li's noncommittal smile, Qiao Yan said, "I can't do something like lowering the current prices when there was a drought last year and it's hard to store food, even if I really need it."
This has nothing to do with whether she has a good conscience or not, but she has just arrived in Bingzhou and she has to make a good start.
There are many cases in this world where people follow the example of their superiors. She really can't leave herself open to taking advantage of loopholes right from the start.
She thought for a moment and continued, "Then it would be best to solve this problem from the source of corn."
If he bought rice from local farmers in small quantities, the price might be lower, but Qiao Yan carried gold with him instead of copper coins, and it would take some time to exchange them, not to mention the manpower and time costs in the receiving process.
This is equivalent to competing for business with some local people, which is undoubtedly an offensive thing.
If the money is spent wisely but also causes other troubles, it would be somewhat unpleasant.
Cheng Li obviously agreed with her idea and asked, "In Lord Qiao's opinion, where can we find the source?"
Qiao Yan looked at his face and said, "I think Mr. Zhongde actually already has the answer."
Almost at the same time, the two of them mouthed a word while looking at each other.
The silent answer is -
liquor.
Yang Xiu thought so too.
If it is a rice shop, buying in large quantities, no matter how much you bargain, the price will actually be limited. But if you change your thinking, what if it is not a rice shop, but a wine shop?
Yang Xiu knew quite a bit about wine.
The fashion for drinking wine during the Wei and Jin Dynasties had already shown some signs in the late Han Dynasty.
Last year's harvest was poor, which caused the price of wine to rise sharply in Luoyang City for a time, and Yang Xiu saw it all.
With his family background, he could have access to fine wines that ordinary people could afford.
In addition, he had read a lot since he was young, and he still remembered the record he had seen in the Book of Han before, that is, the sentence in the section of Food and Goods Records, "Two hu of rice and one hu of wheat can make six hu and six dou of wine."
Making wine from rice and wheat has more than double the return rate.
Considering that the price of wine is higher than that of rice, it is not difficult to understand the huge profits in the wine-making industry.
Yang Xiu had heard some things from his grandfather. For example, during the time of Emperor Xiaowu, because the profits in this industry were too high, the "Liquor Monopoly" was implemented at the suggestion of the Imperial Censor Sang Hongyang. That is, like the salt and iron industries, liquor was also monopolized. However, because this matter involved the interests of too many upper classes, it was abolished after only seventeen years.
But although it was abolished, the taxes levied on the liquor industry have since been clearly regulated.
Under such circumstances, if the brewing industry is to ensure that it can maintain sufficient profits, it is natural to work hard on the prices of the raw materials used.
So just as Qiao Yan thought, Yang Xiu's strategy was to take advantage of other people's purchasing channels.
If feasible, directly purchasing grain from the winery and stockpiling it is also a solution.
But how do you get the other party to sell?
This was the question Yang Xiu was thinking about while in the car.
This kind of practical social problem, or the problem at the level of dealing with things, is undoubtedly a bit difficult for him.
When Qiao Yan heard Yang Xiu mutter the word "wine", he could probably guess his train of thought and his dilemma. "I think his train of thought is fine, but..."
"He lacks the bargaining chip to negotiate with the other party." Lu Yuan on the side continued, "He probably doesn't want to use his identity as the Hongnong Yang family to achieve this goal, but if so, merchants value profit, so how can they let him succeed so easily?"
"That's true. As for the bargaining chip," Qiao Yan pondered the classics she had read before, "maybe I still have one."
"Let Yang Xiu come to see me."
Yang Xiu was extremely depressed because his plan had not yet been implemented and he had to admit in front of Qiao Yan that he was still a little unprepared because he lacked one of the necessary conditions.
But after hearing Qiao Yan's affirmation that his idea was not something that ordinary people could think of, he couldn't help but show some joy.
But when he saw Qiao Yan looking at him, he subconsciously put on a serious expression again.
Qiao Yan: "What's so good about a plan that can't be implemented yet?"
Yang Xiu stubbornly replied, "I have seen countless fine wines in the capital. If I were to enter a winery, I would naturally be able to taste out the flaws in the wine..."
"But how many people can afford the wine you're talking about?"
Qiao Yan shut up Yang Xiu with just one sentence.
In fact, wine is definitely a luxury nowadays. It is a great thing for ordinary people to have a little wine to satisfy their cravings. How could they expect to have those valuable wines that Yang Xiu saw?
Even under such circumstances, both the Cao Wei camp and the Shu Han camp during the Nationalist period once implemented a ban on alcohol.
For today's wineries, suggestions on improving the taste from distinguished guests from Luoyang are of no use to them. The more practical approach is obviously to improve the winemaking process.
During the Northern Wei Dynasty, Jia Sixie wrote a classic book that can be regarded as a monograph on agricultural technology, titled "Qimin Yaoshu", in which he recorded eight methods of making koji and more than 40 methods of brewing wine.
Qiao Yan...Qiao Yan is not a computer, how can he remember all of it?
But there was one type of thing that she had some impression of.
In the original history, this wine-making method called Jiuyun Spring Wine Method was invented by a county magistrate in Qiao County of Pei State. The method became popular after his death, and later fell into the hands of Cao Cao, and was finally presented to Emperor Xian of Han, Liu Xie, and then promoted under the rule of Cao Wei.
This method of brewing wine has another name in later generations, called the fed-batch fermentation method. That is, the raw materials in a fermentation cycle are not put in all at once, but are divided into nine times. The wine obtained in this way will be more mellow while the cost remains basically unchanged, which is equivalent to greater competitiveness compared with peers.
In the original "Qiao Yan's" memory, her father who served as the prime minister of Rencheng and the county magistrate had actually met. Although Qiao Yu was not a wine lover, she was also deeply impressed by this wine. She would only take out the jar she bought to drink during the New Year holidays.
If the winery's purchasing method is really used as a channel to purchase corn at a low price, it will undoubtedly be a qualified bargaining chip.
But since he had this bargaining chip, Qiao Yan felt that it would be a bit of a waste to purchase rice just for one time.
It is better to seek a long-term development path.
In her opinion, this contemplation was a comprehensive consideration of her future plans, but to Yang Xiu, it seemed like a signal to send him home.
He immediately said: "If it really doesn't work, I will think of other ways."
He doesn't want to be thrown back to Luoyang!
But the next moment he heard Qiao Yan say: "No, I don't think you are going the wrong way. Mr. Zhongde and I also thought of this method before, but we are still lacking some preparation."
"I have two things I need you to do."
As soon as he heard that there was something to do, Yang Xiu was basically sure that he still had a chance to stay. "You say so."
"First, I want you to buy enough food for our two hundred people to eat for a month, and then buy pottery, rice and wheat for brewing wine. You can estimate the specific amount you need."
This is equivalent to a math problem, and Yang Xiu naturally understands it.
"Another thing, I want you to hire two people, preferably someone who has some knowledge of folk brewing."
Qiao Yan thought for a moment and added, "The cheaper the better."
Although we say we should consider the long term, the initial investment cannot be too high.
After hearing these two sentences from Qiao Yan, Yang Xiu roughly guessed what she was thinking.
But even though he thought so, he couldn't help but ask again: "If these two things are done properly, can I stay here?"
Qiao Yan gave a particularly safe answer: "If your grandfather sent people to look for you, that would be another matter."
But for Yang Xiu, this sentence was enough.
As long as the people sent by his grandfather didn't knock him out right away, Yang Xiu felt that he still had some room for maneuver.
After passing through Houma and Linfen, Yang Xiu applied to Qiao Yan for the funds needed to handle these two tasks, and detained all the classics he brought out from the Taiwei Mansion with her.
Of course, as soon as these books came into Qiao Yan's hands, she passed them on to Cai Yong on the grounds that it was inconvenient for her to keep the books, so as to give him something to do.
Or perhaps, she didn't need to do so much, because Cai Yong had already started thinking about what to write on the inscription on the tripod for Qiao Xuan. In this case, he would not find this journey, which had become much longer after taking a detour, boring.
Qiao Yan didn't think so either.
Walking from Linfen to Taiyuan, you are almost always walking along the path between two mountains, with Luliang Mountain on the left and Taiyue Mountain on the right. The basin between the two mountains extends along the tributary of Fen River.
She looked to both sides. The mountains were vaguely visible in the clouds, and the nearby river showed the lush green fields in this summer. Compared with the scenery of Yanzhou and Jizhou, it was like another world.
Although this natural scenery was not always filled with songs and joy, at least the sights she saw made it hard not to feel a little relieved from Luoyang's previous tense state.
At least there is no game between various forces in the court here, so Qiao Yan can worry less.
Of course, compared to her ease, Yang Xiu seemed much more nervous. Since he couldn't do the previous purchasing business, he had to complete the two tasks in the second half properly.
With this idea in mind, as soon as he entered Taiyuan County, he took the men assigned to him by Qiao Yan and headed straight to Jinyang, the capital of Taiyuan County.
In modern times, there is also a story about a qualified employee and an unqualified employee doing the same investigation. Although Yang Xiu is young, he is obviously the qualified one.
With the idea of going to Jinyang and finishing all the things that could be done directly, he recorded the situations of all the rice and wine shops in Jinyang City, and then started to deal with the purchasing and recruiting matters.
When he turned back to reunite with the team and report to Qiao Yan, he was obviously quite proud of himself for being able to answer the questions raised by Qiao Yan.
After Qiao Yan asked, he introduced to her the people he had recruited.
Two of them were laid off by one of the wineries in the city due to poor management, so it was naturally easier to negotiate their wages. Moreover, working in Jinyang and Leping were both far away from their homes. Taking the cost of living into consideration, the price Yang Xiu offered was within their acceptable range.
"Another one was recruited for free."
Seeing Qiao Yan frowning upon hearing this, Yang Xiu quickly explained: "I didn't do anything to bully others, and the person I recruited is not useless. It's just because he is a drunkard and said he has wine."
Qiao Yan looked in the direction Yang Xiu pointed, and saw a down-and-out young man with a wine jug hanging around his waist, looking quite drunk.
But his eyes were still clear, and it was obvious that he was not the type who would sell himself out while drunk.
She didn’t know if it was Qiao Yan’s illusion, but no matter how she looked at him, she felt that this person was not just an ordinary drunkard.
Driven by this intuition, after Yang Xiu explained that this person was very knowledgeable about the winemaking business, she asked, "What is this person's name?"
Although he was puzzled as to why Qiao Yan asked a drunkard his name, Yang Xiu still replied, "He calls himself Zhicai, but he is not a wise and talented person. He has never learned a single word since he reached adulthood. This surname is a little rare, but I remember that in the Spring and Autumn Period, Xun Shou was granted a fief in Zhi, and his descendants took Zhi as their surname, which means it is in the Jinzhong area."
Intelligence? This name is really a bit strange.
However, after hearing Yang Xiu's explanation, Qiao Yan did not continue to ask.
She planned to write down the relevant information about the supplementary fermentation method in her memory after arriving in Leping and settling down, and then leave the matter to Yang Xiu.
On the one hand, it gives him a chance to gain experience and learn, and on the other hand, it can be considered a complete arrangement.
Now that Yang Xiu had received Qiao Yan's confirmation, he felt relieved.
He must have had some other thoughts in his mind.
For example...
Although he grew up in a noble family in Luoyang, he had never been exposed to the art of riding and archery before. In addition, given his age, both Yang Ci and Yang Zhen had to consider his safety, and naturally would not let him get in touch with this art too early.
Now he was thinking that since he would not be deported for the time being, he might as well give it a try. Qiao Yan can ride a horse, but he can only sit in front of the carriage. He is indeed one step behind her. He might as well take this opportunity to learn!
Bao Hong was so overwhelmed by Yang Xiu's troubles that he was almost in two troubles.
Taking the grandson of the current Grand Marshal along already made him feel like he was being forced to be an accomplice, and there was no guarantee that he would be found guilty by the Yang family after returning to Luoyang. Now this young master Yang even wanted to learn how to ride a horse.
He is just an innocent captain, why should he bear so much...
Bao Hong looked at Qiao Yan for help, but found that she was discussing something with Cheng Li at the moment and obviously did not notice the predicament he was facing.
Qiao Yan was happy to get rid of this trouble for the time being. After all, Captain Bao didn't have to guard against a sudden attack from the Black Mountain bandits because of his circuitous route. It would be better to put his extra energy to good use.
Anyway, after passing Jinyang, they were not too far away from their final destination, Leping, and he only had to endure for two days.
As early as when Yang Xiu went to Jinyang to recruit people and buy grain, the Taiyue Mountain on their route had already begun to gradually drop.
Taiyue Mountain, with its highest point reaching an altitude of more than 2,500 meters, was now reduced to just the undulating hills at the end of the mountains. After they turned east, they came to a road that went through the mountains and directly reached Leping.
Having reached this point, Bao Hong finally breathed a sigh of relief.
It can be foreseen that he can complete the task of safely delivering Qiao Xuan's body to Leping.
This undoubtedly relieved some of his stress.
South of Jinyang, the Dongwo River, which flows westward into the Fen River, almost overlaps with the route they took this time. As for the end of the river, it is the Beishan Mountain of Zhan County. After passing the Beishan Mountain, it is Leping.
Along the way, Qiao Yan reminded Bao Hong that there were bandits roaming in Taihang Mountain, and he also discovered Yang Xiu in Qiao Xuan's carriage. Bao Hong was under so much pressure that when he saw the even somewhat barren North Mountain, he felt as if he had seen a paradise on earth and almost lost his composure in excitement.
However, when he turned his head to look at Qiao Yan, he found that the always calm and decent Marquis of Leping also showed some eagerness in his expression, probably because he was about to arrive at the territory under his jurisdiction.
This seems a bit more realistic.
As Bao Hong had seen, Qiao Yan was indeed feeling uneasy as he was about to arrive in Leping.
Beyond Beishan is the land she currently owns. No matter how well she pretends to have everything under control, it is difficult for her to completely calm down at this moment.
This is her territory.
East of Beishan, west of Taihang, north of Shangdang, and south of Yangquan.
This is Leping.
When the mountain road turned and there was no longer any obstruction in front of him, Leping County was completely revealed to Qiao Yan.
This is undoubtedly a land that is less prosperous than Jinyang, but also full of hope.
Leping...
Leping County was originally the county seat, and the highest official in the county was the county magistrate.
But after Qiao Yan was granted the title of Marquis of Leping County, according to the custom of establishing a country based on a county in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Leping County could also be called Leping County State. In addition to the county marquis enjoying the highest ownership rights in the fiefdom, the chief executive of this place would also be changed from county magistrate to prime minister of Leping State.
Qiao Yan preferred to give this position to Cheng Li, who was quite capable in internal affairs.
Of course, this is not something that can be done just by her direct assignment.
Regardless of whether the country was established because of a county marquisate or inherited a county or kingdom, this position requires loyalty to the Han Dynasty first.
Just like the prime ministers of counties and kingdoms such as Jinan and Jibei, they were all directly appointed by the central government and received a salary of 2,000 stones from the court.
Although the salary of a county or state prime minister is relatively low, one must know that a county has tens of thousands of households, and it is not a game of drinking and drinking. One cannot be too hasty when deciding on the chief executive.
Otherwise, if the county marquis can arbitrarily appoint someone who has no talent or experience in handling government affairs, it will probably have no effect other than causing public anger.
It was just because Qiao Yan's situation was relatively special - Liu Hong had already seen her talent and ability, and Leping County was indeed not large, so before she left Luoyang, she got Liu Hong's permission.
She could nominate herself and submit a report, and in the same way as selecting filial and honest people, the prime minister of the county would be decided.
Fortunately, given Cheng Li's contributions during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, it was not too difficult for him to secure this position.
In Qiao Yan's opinion, only by offering the position of prime minister could she calmly accept Cheng Li's decision to follow her to Leping, Bingzhou, rather than staying in his original Yanzhou to display his talents.
In addition, under the prime minister, the military and security affairs of the county were originally handled by the county lieutenant, now also called the lieutenant, but it was the lieutenant of the county. The official in this position and his subordinates formed the arrest and defense force within the county.
Of course, this is also a position that needs to be reported to the court for approval.
However, compared to the prime minister, Qiao Yan is relatively more conflicted about this position.
If calculated based on the fighting power, the person with the highest fighting power around Qiao Yan is undoubtedly Dian Wei. But Dian Wei is suitable to be a guard, rather than a leader over a group of officials and soldiers.
It was indeed a bit difficult for him to assign who would patrol and who would catch thieves, and to draw lines in this territory of tens of thousands of households.
Fortunately, this is not a position that requires an immediate decision.
Except for the prime minister and the county lieutenant who received salaries from the central government, the rest of the positions were decided directly by Qiao Yan himself, namely the positions of the county marquis's retainers, including the family secretary and concubine's son, as well as the envoy who represented the county in diplomacy and the clerk who was in charge of the country's financial documents.
In short, these retainers formed the core working group governed by Qiao Yan, the county marquis, in Leping County, and then radiated out to the common people who needed to pay taxes to her.
Qiao Yan had a rough estimate of the people he brought to Leping in terms of these positions.
However, before matching people with positions one by one, what she needs to face after arriving in Leping is the issue of power transfer.
The original Leping County magistrate, county magistrate, county lieutenant and others had already been transferred in their positions due to the arrival of her, the county marquis. The seals and the account books and legal records of previous years had also been stored in the hall.
This man was originally the magistrate of Leping County. From what Qiao Yan could see from his expression, he did not seem to be dissatisfied with his relocation. Instead, he seemed to be finally relieved.
Qiao Yan noticed this somewhat strange expression, but did not ask about it. He just listened to the county magistrate saying, "Marquis Qiao is really lucky. There are a total of 9,400 registered households in Leping, and the other 600 households are distributed in the mountain villages in the direction of Shangai. If the population of Leping itself exceeds 10,000, it will still be a troublesome matter."
This is not difficult to understand. The title of nobility in the Eastern Han Dynasty was not based on the actual number of people corresponding to the counties, but on the number of people given the title by the imperial court.
In this case, if the original population of Leping County was more than ten thousand households, she, as the Marquis of Leping, could not take these people for herself, but had to divide them according to the number of households in her corresponding fiefdom.
If the number of extra households is still large, the original management team of Leping County can still remain here, but the names of the places where the residents under the jurisdiction of these two places belong will probably have to be changed.
However, since the two parties are in the same region, frictions are inevitable due to jurisdiction issues. The differences between the county and the county seat will inevitably lead to differences in the payment of taxes between the two parties. In this world, there are many situations where the problem is not the lack of wealth but the imbalance of wealth. It is hard to predict how it will evolve in the end.
If the number of extra households is not large, it will be troublesome to classify them into other counties of neighboring Taiyuan or Shangdang. The terrain of Taiyuan is too special. To the east of Leping is the Taihang Mountains, to the north is Mount Wutai, and to the south and west are rolling hills. This special isolation makes it not suitable to assign a certain number of households to other counties.
So the county magistrate was talking about good luck.
Qiao Yan also felt that she was lucky. On the journey from the Taihang Mountains to Leping, the scenery she saw was different from that of Yanzhou, Jizhou and Luoyang. Although it was not as prosperous as a city, in such a turbulent era, it was really a rare thing to have fields to cultivate and mountains to rely on.
Regardless of the county magistrate's mentality, he seemed to be in a hurry to complete the transaction. He sorted out all the registered items before she arrived, which undoubtedly saved her a lot of trouble.
Qiao Yan winked at Cheng Li, asking him to look over the documents and files. He then replied to the county magistrate, "It is thanks to your majesty that you have pity on my youth and have given me a place to live. However, I would like to trouble you to tell me how to properly govern Leping County and what other important people and events I need to record."
Although the former Leping County Magistrate had heard that Qiao Yan became the county marquis because of her meritorious service in the Yellow Turban Rebellion, he still couldn't help but secretly admire her when he saw how she handled things prudently.
Seeing that although Qiao Yan was a county marquis, he did not follow the custom of calling himself "I" nor did he put on airs in front of him, it was obvious that he wanted to make this handover in a harmonious atmosphere. A more genuine smile appeared on his face.
"Qiao Hou has this intention, Le Ping..."
Before he could finish saying "The people of Leping are fortunate", a county official hurried in and interrupted their conversation.
The county official said, "There are two people outside the gate who claim to be old friends of Lord Qiao and are here to ask for an audience."
Old friend?
Qiao Yan doesn't have that many old friends.
She knew in her mind that the only possibility was that Xu Fu had returned to Yingchuan to pay a visit to his mother first, and after stating his decision, he had now obtained his mother's permission to come here.
As for why there are two people? Either he brought some friends from his hometown with him, or his mother was willing to come to Leping and came along.
If it is the latter, it is undoubtedly good news for Qiao Yan.
Although Xu Fu had no prior knowledge of literature and could only recognize a few words, apart from his natural intelligence, what Qiao Yan valued most was undoubtedly his character and personality, which was somewhat related to the family education he received.
Xu Fu lost his father at an early age, which was equivalent to the influence of his mother.
Qiao Yan had been thinking before about how to educate a guy like Yang Xiu who was smart but not very upright.
Cai Yong was a good teacher who enlightened children, but he was obviously not a qualified life mentor. It was because of him that even his interpersonal relationships were so hateful. And with the Black Mountain bandits around, Qiao Yan himself did not have so much extra time.
On the contrary, if Xu Shu brought his mother with him, she might be a potential "education expert".
Qiao Yan's mind changed, but he did not show any clues on his face. He just said to the county magistrate: "Since he is my old friend, I will go and take a look first."
She walked out and saw Xu Fu outside the county government office.
As soon as he saw Qiao Yan, he stepped forward and saluted, saying, "Don't be offended, Lord Qiao. Fu brought his mother with him this time, so he walked a little slower on the way. Fortunately, he and his mother arrived safely."
Qiao Yan glanced behind him, but did not see his mother. He only saw a young man with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes standing with a gun on his back, showing an outstanding demeanor. He asked, "I wonder if your mother..."
Xu Fu replied, "My mother is behind in the carriage. She heard that Marquis Qiao had entered the county town, so she asked me to come as soon as possible."
After he finished speaking, he turned sideways and led Qiao Yan to look at the young man, saying, "Let me introduce someone to Lord Qiao first."
"My mother and I were nearly killed when we encountered bandits while passing through Changzhi. It was this righteous man who saved us. He is from Changshan County, Jizhou, and his marksmanship is really good. He said he had something important to discuss with the county magistrate, so I asked him to come along."
When Qiao Yan heard about Jizhou Changshan County, his heart was moved.
As soon as Xu Fu finished speaking, a young man who was only fifteen or sixteen years old came forward to pay his respects and said something that undoubtedly confirmed Qiao Yan's guess.
He bowed and said, "Zhao Yun of Changshan, I am honored to meet you, Your Excellency."
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