Chapter 30 Gift of Pearls
Interpersonal relationships are sometimes a very strange thing.
One day they might be angry, resentful, and hateful, and never speak to each other again, but the next day when they meet, they might greet each other with good morning as if nothing happened.
A new day, a new look, and a new junior sister...
Today is the day of the fundraising banquet at Yuanming Tower. The sun rose early this morning, and the sky should be clear and bright all day.
Ouyang Rong left early, carrying a few flatbreads, and ate them on the way to the government office. He sat in the office for a while and flipped through the Penglangdu commercial tax ledger. After waiting for a while, he handed over the duties to County Magistrate Diao, who was on time for work and clearly lacked sleep.
After learning about the preparations for the midday banquet and finding no major problems, the two discussed the details, confirmed the time, and then went about their respective tasks.
Yan Liulang is not in Longcheng recently. A few days ago, Ouyang Rong sent him to Jiangzhou on business, including having him lead a constable team to supervise the transfer of 3,000 shi of grain from the Jimin Granary.
Although there wasn't much food, Ouyang Rong didn't want any unexpected problems to arise, and he had to keep a close eye on everything before he could feel a little at ease.
Therefore, the task of protecting Ouyang Rong naturally fell to Xie Lingjiang these past few days.
Today is no exception.
The two met again in the same "somewhat stuffy" government office from yesterday. Ouyang Rong noticed that his junior sister looked normal. They greeted each other with good morning, and their interaction was no different from usual.
Ouyang Rong secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
However, Xie Lingjiang's men's clothing today was no longer the tight-fitting round-necked Hu robe popular in the Great Zhou Dynasty yesterday, but a refined long gown with wide sleeves, which did not accentuate her figure.
However, she is beautiful and looks good in anything, which makes people sigh that the genes produced by the Chenjun Xie family, a noble family with a history of more than 100 years, are indeed excellent. She stands like a jade tree and smiles like the bright moon in one's arms... although the junior sister usually doesn't smile.
However, Ouyang Rong didn't pay much attention to these things, as his focus was entirely on the important matters of the day. As noon approached, he put down his documents, took Xie Lingjiang with him, and headed to Yuanming Tower.
They rode together in a swaying carriage on the road, neither of them mentioning yesterday's events, as if nothing had happened.
Inside the carriage, Ouyang Rong sat upright, staring at the curtain in front of him.
Xie Lingjiang sat to the side, also sitting upright.
They are all upright and virtuous men.
However, someone broke the silence first.
"Give."
A slender hand stretched out in front of Ouyang Rong, and in that clean, white hand was a crumpled purse.
"This is?"
"Isn't this a public fundraising event? Can't I donate?"
"Um, yes, but you have no obligation to."
“Then consider it a favor and donate it. I didn’t bring much with me on this trip. After buying the sword and bow, I only had six taels of gold and a few taels of silver left. I sent a letter home yesterday, and some more money will arrive in a few days. You can donate it again.”
“Gold is scarce now, and six taels is enough to exchange for sixty or seventy strings of cash, which is nearly seventy thousand coins. You have donated too much.”
"How much do you expect to raise this time, senior brother?"
"At least three thousand strings of cash."
“That junior sister didn’t donate much,” Xie Lingjiang shook her head.
"The three thousand strings of cash were donated jointly by these local tyrants and gentry."
Ouyang Rong said softly, "Most of the wealth in Longcheng County is in their hands. They're all big shots. Seventy strings of cash isn't much to them, but Junior Sister, your donation is a personal donation, and it's already equivalent to three years of my salary..."
At this point, Ouyang Rong suddenly realized that the Xie family of Chenjun was also a powerful clan, much more formidable than the Liu family of Longcheng, which only occupied Jiangzhou. They were just more elegant and low-key in their dealings.
However, what these aristocratic families pursued was not the immense wealth of local tyrants, but rather prestige, influence, and certain hidden assets.
For example, Ouyang Rong's renowned reputation as a virtuous gentleman is something they can admire.
Moreover, the junior sister and her master are only one branch of the Xie family of Chenjun. The Xie family has many descendants and branches, and its influence is widespread.
However, in Ouyang Rong's memory, his mentor Xie Xun lived a frugal and simple life, and his junior sister seemed to be similar. They were both completely uninterested in the family's business and wealth accumulation, and studying was the most important thing. It is conceivable that in the Xie family, money was probably considered a trivial matter and was left to collateral branches to manage, and was not valued.
"Okay."
Ouyang Rong nodded and put away the young rich woman's purse.
"Wait a moment." He hesitated for a moment, reached into his sleeve, and finally handed Xie Lingjiang a crystal-clear bead. This was the one he had found in the Pure Land Palace.
Seeing the latter's puzzled look, he joked:
"In recognition of Miss Xie's initial donation to this fundraising banquet, I hereby present her with a pearl as a reward, wishing her heart to remain as pure and clear as a pearl forever."
Xie Lingjiang suddenly remembered that the pearl in his hand seemed to be the one she had mistakenly accused of stealing at the Sanhui Courtyard that day, which could be considered the beginning of their first meeting.
The junior sister glanced at her senior brother's serious yet nonsensical manner, suppressed the smile that was about to curve his lips, nodded, and accepted and put it away.
She felt... that Mingzhu hadn't changed that day, nor had the person; this senior brother was still somewhat frivolous...
Xie Lingjiang pursed her lips, while Ouyang Rong said with considerable reluctance:
"This bead should be quite valuable; it even glows under the moonlight at night. I went to a few pawnshops in plain clothes yesterday to inquire, and the prices were all quite high. However, I felt they were ripping me off, so I didn't sell it. Junior sister, take it; you can find an expert to take a look at it later."
"OK."
Xie Lingjiang nodded, but didn't pay much attention. She was now eager to ask:
"How much food can I get in exchange for this donation?"
"Now, seventy strings of cash can only buy less than five hundred bushels of rice."
Xie Lingjiang lowered her eyes, did some mental calculations, and frowned: "Why is the price of rice so expensive? Isn't the price of rice in our Jiangnan region ten copper coins per dou, and ten dou make one shi... One guan of cash should be at least ten shi, right?"
“That was before the disaster. Now, rice prices in Longcheng are rising every day. Although I issued a price control order, many unscrupulous merchants still secretly add terms to sell grain. Right now, it costs at least fourteen coins per dou, and even at this price, not many merchants are selling.” He spoke calmly.
Xie Lingjiang took a deep breath and slowly uttered two words: "Unscrupulous merchant".
Ouyang Rong didn't speak, but lifted the carriage curtain and looked at the luxurious riverside restaurant that was getting closer and closer.
He didn't want to associate with those unscrupulous merchants at all, for fear of getting his hands dirty, but the Great Zhou Dynasty was unreliable, and behind him were tens of thousands of disaster victims and the ever-present threat of floods; he couldn't simply remain unaffected.
Get your hands dirty.
...
Before the luncheon at Yuanming Tower began, Ouyang Rong sincerely greeted the landlords, gentry, wealthy merchants, and scholars with official titles at the entrance of the hall.
The county magistrate, Diao, introduced them to him.
For example, this is the head of the Cheng family, who runs a small portion of the water transport business in Longcheng; this is the head of the Li family in the south of the city, whose connections in the imperial court have reached the fifth rank; and this one is also remarkable, the patriarch of the Guan family, who served as the governor of a certain prefecture in the north before retiring to his hometown, and owns a large tract of fertile land in the suburbs...
Ouyang Rong immediately activated the "community cattle" mode, bringing the warmth and care of a herdsman's parent official to the good citizens of Longcheng. After this exchange of pleasantries, it could be described as an official being kind and the people being filial... until County Magistrate Diao introduced another stranger to him.
"Your Excellency, this is Liu Ziwen, the head of the Liu family in the west of the city."
Ouyang Rong, who had his back turned, raised an eyebrow, his smile widening.
But when he turned around, he was quite surprised.
The famous young master of the Liu family, Liu Ziwen, whom Ouyang Rong had heard so much about that he was not as domineering or arrogant as he had imagined.
Instead, it was rather lukewarm, or even just average.
There will be more tonight, maybe not until midnight, but there definitely will be!
(End of this chapter)
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