Bai Yulian left the letter behind and fled.
Zhang Pei'er became more and more certain, "Brother, Fu Xiaoguan is definitely not dead!"
Zhang Wenhan took out the letter and unfolded it. "Sister, I know Fu Xiaoguan is indeed a genius, and there are countless young girls in the world who admire him. You threw yourself into the river for him, and you came down the mountain to kill him... I say, I'm afraid you won't be able to cultivate the Heartless Sword."
Zhang Pei'er blushed and pursed her lips, "If he's really not dead, I'll have to kill him!"
Zhang Wenhan glanced at Zhang Pei'er and thought, if he really wasn't dead, if he really stood in front of you, I'm afraid you wouldn't even be able to hold the sword in your hand, how can you kill him?
Then his eyes were drawn to the words on the paper. He read it carefully, and a look of joy gradually appeared on his face.
"Tsk tsk tsk, brother used to look down on that dude, but now I really admire him even more!"
"Come here... ask County Magistrate Huang to come in. I have a mission to assign!"
"Let me see it."
"You're going to kill him, what's there to see?"
"elder brother……!"
Zhang Wenhan handed the letter to Zhang Pei'er, thinking that it would be better for Fu Xiaoguan to die. If he were alive, how many young girls would he have harmed!
County Official Huang walked in, and Zhang Wenhan pointed and said, "Sit down... How many people have returned from Pingling?"
"Your Excellency, the northern border troops have sent back 31,278 men, all of whom fled to Pingling Mountain last winter."
"Are you settled now?"
"Those with homes have already returned, leaving over 3,000 homeless. Pingling Academy has closed for the holidays, so these 3,000 people are temporarily housed there until their collapsed houses can be rebuilt... which probably won't happen until next year. The food the northern border troops sent back is enough for them to survive the winter, but they only have 2,200 taels of silver."
County Magistrate Huang pondered for a moment and then said, "Quyi is urging us to pay back the money and grain... I'm thinking, should we pay them back part of it first?"
"Stop!" Zhang Wenhan waved his hand. "Yan Linqiu has the support of Yan Zai. Don't worry, he won't be short of money or food. As for us, we don't have a loving father or a loving mother. It's only the beginning of winter, and we don't know if we can survive this year safely..."
Zhang Wenhan poured a cup of tea for County Magistrate Huang, leaned over, and said mysteriously, "Old Huang, I have some great news. If we take this step well, Pingling will be able to turn things around immediately."
County Magistrate Huang was stunned, thinking to himself that it took me thirty years to rise from a minor official to the position of county magistrate in Pingling!
In the past thirty years, there have been fifteen county magistrates!
Every county magistrate came with great confidence, but left in a state of disarray.
Just like the Jinshi gentleman in front of him, when he came at the end of last year, he was full of vigor and his conversation was full of jargon, but now he is arm in arm with him and calls him "Old Huang".
This rotten place is hurting people!
Poor old magistrate, even his mind was filled with wishful thinking - Pingling could turn things around immediately? How? Even if it was poor, it would still be poor!
Zhang Wenhan put his arm around County Magistrate Huang's shoulder and said, "Now, have County Magistrate Zheng take the twenty constables he has with him and go to the various towns and villages to publicize this matter with drums and gongs."
"What are you promoting?" County Magistrate Huang asked in surprise.
"Wait, I'll write it to you."
Zhang Wenhan took out the pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and wrote on the paper with high spirits:
"Pingling County's Xishan Cement Workshop and Xishan Brick and Tile Workshop are recruiting workers. There's no limit on the number of workers, and neither sex is restricted. Anyone between the ages of twelve and sixty is welcome to apply. Salaries are paid daily. For the able-bodied, 50 wen per day, for the young and the old, 30 wen per day! Those who can read and write get 80 wen per day! Those with special skills get 100 wen per day!
Applicants should go to the Pingling County Office on October 16th. Once hired, they will be given ten kilograms of rice!
This was the meaning of Fu Xiaoguan's suicide note, but it stunned County Magistrate Huang.
"Sir, our treasury silver, including the money sent by the northern border troops, only totals over 4,000 taels. You..."
It's so fucking scary!
Fifty coins a day, wouldn't that be fifteen hundred coins a month? One and a half ounces of silver!
As a county magistrate, I only earn two taels of silver a month. But I can read and write. Wouldn't it be that the monthly income from this crappy Xishan workshop be higher than that of the county magistrate?
Is it possible that the county magistrate is delusional and confused?
"Why, you don't believe it?"
Zhang Wenhan put down his brush and rubbed his hands. "This is the first major investment I've attracted through my business promotion efforts. Let me tell you, next year, Xishan will invest even more in our area... Do you know how much more?"
County Magistrate Huang shook his head in astonishment.
"At least this number!" Zhang Wenhan opened his palm.
"Five thousand taels of silver?"
Zhang Wenhan shook his head.
"Could it be fifty thousand taels?" County Magistrate Huang took a breath of cold air. This was the largest investment in Pingling's history!
Zhang Wenhan frowned. "Old Huang, you're good in every way except your cowardice. Let me tell you, this is going to cost at least 500,000 taels of silver!"
County Magistrate Huang was stunned and couldn't believe it.
Zhang Wenhan patted County Magistrate Huang's shoulder again, with a sly smile on his face. "Old Huang, times have changed. The Imperial Palace has been appointed, and His Majesty has introduced a policy of promoting both commerce and agriculture. The status of merchants is improving, and preferential policies for merchant investment will likely be implemented soon. We must follow the trend of the times and keep up with the pace of this era."
These words were also said in Fu Xiaoguan's suicide note. Fu Xiaoguan was worried that Zhang Wenhan would become stupid from reading too much and would not be able to adapt, so he wrote a lot of words in the hope of liberating Zhang Wenhan's thoughts.
He didn't expect that Zhang Wenhan had been in Pingling for a year and was almost driven crazy by the dilapidated situation.
If it was when he first took office, he would probably really be dismissive, but now he hopes to boost business faster than Fu Xiaoguan himself!
"What's the origin of this Xishan?"
Huang County Magistrate was not fooled by Zhang Wenhan's words. He was worried that he might be a scammer. After all, if a normal businessman wanted to spend such a large sum of money, wouldn't it be better to do it near Yongning Prefecture? Why did he do it in this poor and desolate place?
"Xishan is right in Linjiang, my hometown. It was opened by the son of a landlord and owns many workshops. These cement and brick workshops are just two of them... He's incredibly wealthy, and the products from those workshops have made him a ton of money, so there's no need to doubt Xishan's financial strength."
When County Magistrate Huang heard this, he felt relieved and his heart immediately warmed up.
"Are you really offering such a high salary?"
"This isn't my business. It's owned by Young Master Xishan. How could it be fake?"
"What the hell is this cement?"
"This is a good thing. You'll know it later. Now hurry up and get it done for them. Don't let them come and find we have no workers and no money to invest!"
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