Chapter 85: Merit points are sufficient. Shall I redeem them?
"Actually, I have heard about some of this gentleman's deeds."
"I never expected that he would pose such a great obstacle to the two of you."
The Liu family hall had only four people... no, three people.
The Persian merchant stroked his beard with two fingers as he listened to Liu Ziwen and Liu Zian's complaints.
Well, actually, the Liu brothers in front of me spoke quite calmly and composedly when they talked about this person.
But to Li Li, it sounded like a resentful complaint.
As for matters within Longcheng County, after so many years of ups and downs, whenever she delivered goods and came over for a cup of tea, Liu would never utter a single word about them in front of him.
They all regard it as their backyard, so why would they invite others in to interfere?
This is not only embarrassing, but also a sign of incompetence.
Li Li chuckled inwardly, but nodded slightly on the surface.
"However, this is not the southern barbarians beyond the Great Wall, or those tributary states in the west. The conflict between the people and the officials is indeed troublesome. It seems that the two leaders are facing considerable trouble..."
Liu Ziwen, who had maintained a calm expression, interrupted rather rudely:
“This Ouyang Lianghan is not a problem or an obstacle, and he doesn’t even know what we are doing.”
"Mr. Li, let me reiterate, I was thinking of the bigger picture, and I've been keeping an eye on the important matter that your esteemed person is concerned about."
“If this kid were in the past, we could let him go and deal with him slowly. But at this critical juncture, with a major event about to unfold, my brother and I cannot afford to be hasty in the short term; we don’t have enough energy to spare…”
Liu Zian glanced sideways at his brother, whose tone was slightly sharp.
Li Li smiled and nodded, "Yes, yes, yes. Chief Liu is indeed the most composed and thorough."
The Persian merchant inwardly scoffed. If he looked down on the new magistrate so much, why was he complaining to him now?
Li Li seemed very easy to talk to, her tone sincere but tinged with a hint of doubt:
"The chief told me that this matter is about..."
Liu Ziwen pursed his lips, calmed down, and pondered:
"Ten years of honing our skills have finally come to this crucial moment. The situation in Longcheng County must be under our control; we cannot afford any unforeseen complications..."
"Manager Li, you should have no objection to this, right? We are all acting in the best interests of our esteemed client, so could we discuss this together and come up with some ideas?"
Li Li didn't hesitate for long before nodding and saying:
"Yes. Your matter is indeed my matter, and also yours."
Liu Ziwen and Liu Zian exchanged glances, both secretly relieved.
Unlike those confined to Longcheng County in Jiangzhou, this Persian merchant had business dealings all over the world. He could reach nobles in Luoyang and associate with all sorts of people. He was no ordinary person.
Li Li, sleeves tucked in, sat upright in her chair, her emerald eyes gazing at the empty hall for a moment before offering her suggestion:
"To deal with this kind of gentleman, to be on the safe side, we need both civil and military methods."
Liu Ziwen frowned and said, "Boss Li, there's no need for such trouble. You can go back and report to your esteemed friend, create some pretext, and transfer the person away regardless of promotion or demotion, or simply remove him from office."
Li Li shook her head directly:
"Touching his hat would be the most troublesome thing. You know how delicate things are in Longcheng County right now, Boss."
"As long as that branch of the family remains, even if it has been deposed and its legal standing cannot compare to that of the branch remaining in Luoyang, who knows if the Emperor might suddenly remember their past relationship one day? Such things have happened before."
He sighed:
"The transfer of the magistrate of Longcheng County should not be too conspicuous. Otherwise, even if the operation is simple, as long as someone mentions it during the routine announcement in the court, the officials will make connections... This is detrimental to the real important matter."
"So, what does Manager Li suggest we do?"
"Longcheng County needs to remain calm, but that doesn't mean Jiangzhou can't operate. It just so happens that a group of officials were recently brought down, so things are clean now. I'll report this to you as soon as I get back."
Liu Ziwen glanced at the Persian merchant's smiling face. He seemed to understand but not quite, and nodded, saying, "This shouldn't be too difficult, right?"
Li Li gestured to the sharpened letter sword on his lap:
"With it, once it's delivered, nothing will be difficult."
"Then we need to hurry."
"Don't worry, I'll get on it right away."
Li Li nodded again and said, "We've got the civil ones, but as for the military ones..."
Liu Ziwen offered a suitable reminder:
“Ouyang Lianghan has a Xie family daughter as his bodyguard. She is the daughter of his mentor at Bailudong Academy. She follows the path of scholars and is already at the eighth rank. She may not be far from entering the seventh rank.”
Li Li looked slightly troubled and pondered for a moment before saying:
"A Confucian gentleman, or one who's almost at the middle level... Are you sure this kid isn't coming for us? Does he really not know what you're planning?"
The Persian merchant's expression turned serious.
Under his gaze, Liu Ziwen fell silent for a moment.
Since the announcement of the new construction, he has been pondering this question these days, but looking back at the situation in Longcheng County and Ouyang Lianghan's way of doing things... some things are still quite clear.
Liu Ziwen shook his head.
Upon seeing this, the Persian merchant breathed a sigh of relief and remarked with a touch of melancholy:
"It's not the best, but why is even a seventh-rank local county magistrate so troublesome these days..."
The three exchanged glances.
The hall fell silent for a moment.
...
Yunshui Pavilion, third floor.
Walk along the corridor to the left, and you'll find the third-to-last private room at the back.
A red sign hangs on the mahogany door, indicating that the place is busy and has customers.
Ouyang Rong ultimately did not order the "Winter Warmth" tea ceremony set, but instead randomly chose the "Spring Charm" set.
As for Su Dalang, Yan Liulang, and Liu Ashan next door, they chose "Warmth of Winter", "Deep Autumn", and "Coolness of Summer" respectively.
As soon as Ouyang Rong entered the antique-style private room, he didn't even bother to take off his shoes and just threw himself onto the neat bed in the center.
He immediately went into "lying down" mode. If he weren't a stranger in a strange land, he probably would have taken out his phone and started scrolling through his phone to just let himself go.
This tea house, however, holds a hidden secret:
Spotless wooden floors, exquisite and elegant chairs and beds, miniature landscapes of pine and cypress trees and rockeries, and pristine white pebbles...
It is indeed very elegant.
The only odd thing was that the tea table was too small and the bed was too big.
This is unreasonable.
He rolled over twice on the couch but couldn't reach the bottom, Ouyang Rong thought to himself.
Then came the creaking sound of the door opening, accompanied by a gentle and polite female voice.
A tea master with her hair styled in a high bun, resembling a Taoist headdress, gracefully entered, carrying a very professional tea set in her hand.
Goodness, this outfit makes it easy to conceal weapons, which is very safe for guests. The owner of Yunshui Pavilion knows how to treat guests.
"Greetings, sir. My nickname is Cui'er..."
Before the tea master could finish speaking, Ouyang Rong, who was rubbing his temples with his eyes closed, immediately interrupted:
"I'm going to take a nap. You make some tea first, but don't wake me. I'll drink it when I wake up."
"Young Master..."
"Bring me a hot towel."
"yes."
After handing over a hot towel, the high-ranking tea master named Cui'er wanted to say something more, but then she saw the handsome young man on the couch raise one to his lips.
She pursed her lips, then tiptoed off to brew tea.
Hearing the room quiet down, Ouyang Rong, who had been resting with his eyes closed, was quite satisfied. He put a hot towel on his face and took a deep, comfortable breath.
Then concentrate and immerse your mind in the depths of your heart.
He quickly cast aside worldly concerns and focused his mind on the ancient tower in the clouds in his mind, entering it directly.
The inside of the Merit Pagoda remains the same.
A vast space surrounded by white clouds, a simple wooden fish, and a restless blessing bell.
The ancient bronze bell vibrated with a purple aura, much like a lady who had long lived in seclusion but could not bear the loneliness.
Ouyang Rong ignored it and first looked at the cyan-gold characters above the small wooden fish.
His first thought was that it had been a long time since he'd been here; even the length of this line of text seemed to have increased.
[Merit: 11,631]
That's right, my merit points have finally exceeded 10,000, and I met the requirements to redeem the "Return to the Land" blessing from the Pure Land Palace a few days ago.
After these days of hard work, the disaster relief camp and the Zheyi Canal, two major projects, have been put into operation one after another. The former, in particular, has completed most of its mission of disaster relief and saving lives. The influence and feedback it has generated have accumulated into the weighty merit he has before him.
Ouyang Rong felt a slight sense of satisfaction.
However, he immediately turned his gaze to the trembling Blessing Bell above.
Soon, information about exchanging new blessings came to mind.
"Three thousand merit points? What kind of good fortune have I encountered... I just stopped by for a meal."
Ouyang Rong was speechless for a moment.
He looked at the remaining ten thousand merit points and hesitated for a moment.
Should we replace it or not?
However, once the change was made, his merit points dropped below his psychological threshold of 10,000. Ouyang Rong was worried that he wouldn't be able to quickly accumulate enough merit points in the short term, because the Zheyi Canal still had a long way to go. To be honest, he had a thought in his mind recently... he didn't really want to wait until the Zheyi Canal was completed.
Moreover, he recently discovered that the merit points generated by disaster relief camps and other measures were decreasing, and the growth had become relatively slow. Sometimes he would only hear a few clear wooden fish sounds every half day, which was not as fast as stroking Wei Lai's white hair every night before going to bed...
Ouyang Rong immediately fell into deep thought.
It seems a bit short...
(End of this chapter)
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