Chapter 47 Bored, I Want to See Rivers of Blood (First Update, Please Subscribe!!!)
"Young Master Wang, look, do you know that Magistrate Ouyang?"
The old socialite Wang Caozhi returned to the viewing platform where the grain merchants were located. Manager Li stroked his goatee and curiously asked the grain merchants on the platform what they were thinking.
"uh-huh."
Wang Caozhi neither confirmed nor denied, but simply raised his chin slightly and said:
“A sister from the Xie family whom I know well happens to be in Longcheng. Her father is a renowned scholar in the literary world, with countless students. Ouyang Lianghan is one of her father’s disciples… I guess we know each other. We just arranged to have dinner together.”
He spoke casually, as if chatting, but when Manager Ma, Manager Li, and the others saw this, they looked at each other in bewilderment.
A small grain merchant sighed, "No wonder the Wang family of Langya and the Xie family of Chenjun can make connections everywhere in Jiangnan. We're both in business, but Young Master Wang... sigh, I really envy him."
The short young man waved his hand modestly.
The more modest he became, the more the beard-stroking Manager Li gasped. After a moment's thought, he couldn't help but ask in a low voice:
"So, the relaxation of grain prices in Longcheng County this time, could it be that the young manager was behind it? No wonder he was able to bring grain to Longcheng so quickly, it turns out he's a farmer."
Everyone looked on in surprise, even the powerful Manager Ma glanced at them slightly.
Wang Caozhi simply smiled faintly, waved his hand, and continued eating his sweet rice dumpling without offering any explanation.
Although he was a member of a collateral branch and not highly regarded within the clan, he traveled all over the country at a young age, running a large business and cultivating connections with various parties steadily. He made many friends, all thanks to his rhetoric of "not telling the whole truth but never telling a lie."
The grain merchants in the stands toasted and chatted.
Manager Ma put down his prayer beads, smiled, and offered a toast. However, he then turned his attention back to the main arena and asked a question:
"Young Master Wang, what's the relationship between Magistrate Ouyang and that noble lady from the Xie family? They seem quite intimate. Could it be that they have feelings for each other? Otherwise, why would a young lady from the Xie family come to this poor place?"
"How could that be?"
This time, Wang Caozhi lost his composure and immediately replied, as if he had heard something very funny, and laughed as he said:
“My sister Xie is a scholarly talent, and she is well-known in both the Wang and Xie families. She studied at the academy with her father at a young age, so it’s normal for her to be close to her fellow students. How could she possibly marry someone from another family? She is the legitimate daughter of the Xie family of Chenjun. If I may be so bold as to say it, even if the legitimate son of the family behind you, Manager Ma, were to propose to her, he wouldn’t be able to marry her.”
Manager Ma wasn't annoyed at all, and even nodded, "That's true, even the current emperor can't do anything about you few families who forbid marriage."
With their doubts dispelled, the group resumed their lively conversation about making money by selling grain. While they might have disagreements on other matters, they were more united than ever when it came to making money.
Wang Caozhi stood up, raised his cup, and gestured to the crowd:
"Come, let's raise a glass to everyone! The price of grain has been stuck at twenty coins a bushel for a long time. Look at these people outside, they're doing just fine. It seems everyone's quite wealthy. After this Dragon Boat Festival, the price of grain must rise uniformly tomorrow!"
The short young man pointed at the wealthy people who had money to watch the game from the stands.
The burly shopkeeper Ma clapped his hands and laughed heartily, exuding boundless pride: "Hahaha, well said! Prices will rise! Rise to the top! Just this morning another 20,000 shi of grain arrived, so we'll call the shots in Longcheng County!"
"Hey, look!" Just then, Manager Ma's eyes lit up. He grabbed the sloshing wine glass, ran to the railing, and threw it forcefully into the river. He pointed at the dragon boats racing ahead and shouted:
"I won my bet on the dragon boat! Hahaha, what a good omen!"
Wang Caozhi, Manager Li, and others immediately stood up, smiling and applauding in congratulations.
At this moment, on the banks of Butterfly Creek, amidst the resounding drums and gongs, the atmosphere of the day reached its climax as the first dragon boat race champion was born this morning!
Countless eyes along the banks of Butterfly Creek converged on the main competition platform.
The rowers, helmsmen, drummers, and gong players of the winning dragon boat walked onto the stage with their arms bare, where they were personally commended and congratulated by the magistrate of Longcheng County.
Amidst the joyous clamor surrounding the high platform, Magistrate Ouyang, who was welcoming the victorious dragon boat team, seemed slightly dazed and distracted as he stood up. However, Magistrate Diao, Yan Liulang, and Xie Lingjiang, who had returned from the Zhen family, did not notice anything amiss.
Once the excited helmsmen arrived in front of him, Ouyang Rong's slightly unusual expression returned to normal.
"You've worked hard, brave warriors."
With a bright smile, he hung wreaths and colorful plaques on each person in the group, then turned around to face the audience.
The people of Longcheng, the dragon boat participants, and the local gentry and wealthy merchants below the stage quieted down a bit, waiting for the county magistrate to speak as is customary.
Suddenly, a figure on a fast horse appeared on the long street not far away, galloping towards them.
At first, only some outsiders noticed, but when the focus of the entire audience—Magistrate Ouyang Rong—quietly stopped speaking and turned his head to look in the direction of the fast rider, most people in the audience also noticed the anomaly.
The bustling crowd parted to make way for the swift rider, whose hoarse shouts echoed throughout the arena:
"Urgent report from Jiangzhou! Urgent report from Jiangzhou! The magistrate of Longcheng County has received a report!"
A murmur arose in the room, but silence fell again with a loud "Silence!" from Magistrate Diao.
Liu Ziwen and Liu Zian frowned and looked at each other. On another viewing platform, Wang Caozhi, Manager Ma, Manager Li and others looked on curiously.
All the onlookers saw the weary rider rein in his horse in front of the main platform at the ferry crossing. The postman dismounted, stumbled, and limped onto the platform to deliver the letter.
The young magistrate on the stage frowned slightly. He first glanced back at the officials behind him, then stepped forward, verified his identity with the panting postman, and then took the urgent document. Under everyone's watchful eyes, he opened it and read it silently with his eyes lowered.
Countless gazes fell on the calm face of Magistrate Ouyang. He did not speak immediately, and the atmosphere in the room became tense.
Everyone knows that such urgent official documents, usually delivered hundreds of miles away, are usually about serious, negative matters that need to be communicated to the local authorities quickly. Otherwise, simple official business can be delivered slowly.
The last time a similar document was issued was in the corruption case at Jimin Granary.
Thinking of this, many people in the crowd had a bad feeling, worrying that some natural disaster or man-made calamity had occurred somewhere, or that there was war and chaos.
Some local gentry and landlords also became worried, as they were the most easily affected by changes in local policies.
On the other hand, Wang Caozhi and other outside grain merchants did not have these worries. Official documents from Jiangzhou generally had little impact on them, who were mobile merchants, and certainly could not restrict their personal freedom. So most of them were just watching the show and wanted to see if there were any new business opportunities.
Unexpectedly, on the high platform, the tall, independent young county magistrate, who was silently reading official documents, suddenly smiled easily, raised his head, shook his head with a smile at the whole audience, and waved to his tense officials and subordinates behind him to reassure them.
"Don't worry, it's nothing serious, it has nothing to do with everyone." He said casually. "Everyone can continue celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival, keep playing music and dancing."
The weight that had been pressing on the hearts of many in Longcheng was suddenly lifted, and the quiet crowd returned to its lively state. However, the visiting merchants, including Wang Caozhi, were somewhat disappointed, as there was nothing interesting to watch... They were bored and wanted to see rivers of blood.
"However, my colleagues and I are busy again. Sigh, we finally get a holiday for the Dragon Boat Festival, and we still have to work overtime with this official document..."
The young magistrate bent down, folded the letter back into its original shape, and carefully put it away. Then, as if remembering something, he looked up and casually asked:
"By the way, since everyone's here, are there any friends in the audience who have large amounts of grain stockpiled in this county? Please come to the county office for a cup of tea and report. Don't worry, it's nothing serious. It's just that Inspector Shen suspects that the embezzled grain from the Jimin Granary is still stuck in Jiangzhou. So, after consulting with the imperial court, he ordered that all large amounts of grain stored in Jiangzhou's counties are not allowed to leave Jiangzhou without authorization from today onwards. Local officials must verify the origin of the grain and obtain a travel permit before it can be transported away..."
After he finished speaking, the noise in the room subsided slightly before returning to normal. It was indeed a minor matter, and most people didn't care about it, or even understand it, and dispersed.
On a certain viewing platform, Wang Caozhi, Manager Ma, Manager Li, and other grain merchants, who were originally going to have a team-building activity, were all stunned. They even doubted whether they had misheard and exclaimed "Ah!" several times in a row.
When a young county magistrate's gaze swept around the area and "coincidentally" landed on their platform, Wang Caozhi and the others felt a chill run down their spines. The young magistrate appeared to be smiling, revealing his white teeth, and his smile seemed genuine.
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(End of this chapter)
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