Yang Zhen went to the Zhenguo Palace to check the information before coming. There are three major foundation-building and five major Qi-training families in Wushui County, with inheritances of more than 500 years. Even the weakest family has no less than ten monks in the family.
In Wushui County, where the total number of monks was only five or six hundred, this was already considered a powerful force.
Among them, the most powerful one is the Liang family, with a total of four foundation-building monks, two of whom are in the later stage of foundation-building.
His family's hometown is Liangjia Town. This town is located in the southwest of Wushui County, about a thousand miles away from the county seat. Another two to three hundred miles to the west is the territory of the Monster Clan, a vast and vast mountain of millions.
With the help of trade with the demon clan, the Liang family has been prosperous for thousands of years, and foundation-building monks have appeared in the family in every generation.
Nowadays, among the six managers of the county hall, the Liang family holds two seats. Among them, the Xuanwei Office is responsible for managing the monks in the county and the contact with the demon clan; the office is responsible for various miscellaneous affairs of the county hall and the management of the city. Their positions are very important.
Under the Liang family, there is a married family, with two foundation members in the family. Cheng Yu, the manager of Jing'an Office who is responsible for the county's security, is a member of the Cheng clan.
Finally, there is the Heitu family. Although the family only has one founder, the branch office headed by Heituyue holds the money bag of the county office. Its status is equivalent to that of the Finance Bureau in Yang Zhen's previous life, and its power is also considerable.
As for Lu Sheng, she comes from an aristocratic family with more than twenty qi-training monks, whose strength is second only to the three major foundation-building families in Wushui County. Therefore, the county library is responsible for selecting and sending out the spirit-rooted students every year, and the education room, which is relatively least valued, is left to the Lu family.
"Isn't this just clan politics?" Yang Zhen muttered in her heart, but on the surface she smiled broadly and greeted them one by one.
After these people, there were some small soldiers in the county hall. Yang Zhen did not neglect them and returned the greeting with a smile.
Half an hour passed like this, and everyone was introduced. He nodded and said nothing.
Fang Hong then shouted again: "The meeting is dismissed."
The voice was dull, far less energetic than just now.
…
The venue for the banquet was chosen in Fangshi outside.
County temples and state palaces generally have their own independent spiritual lines, and are often dozens of miles away from the local county and state cities. The county museum is different. Although it is also on a mountain, it is connected to the county town and the county town is at the foot of the mountain.
This is like what Baiyun Mountain is to Zhuyang County and what Zhuiyun Mountain is to Yunzhou City.
The mountain where the Wushui County Museum is located is called Baiwang Mountain. The county palace only occupies a corner of it, about two hundred acres in size, and has about ten palaces. Compared with the county palace, it is naturally much inferior.
The group was noisy and didn't have much etiquette. In just half a quarter of an hour, they left the county hall and arrived at Fangshi.
Yang Zhen saw a newly opened store at a glance, which was Caiyunjian's branch.
A burly man was busy outside. Seeing the bustle here, he looked over curiously and looked into Yang Zhen's eyes.
Tie Zhu felt happy, but did not come forward to say hello. This was Yang Zhen's special order to try not to let anyone know about her relationship with this store.
After walking a few hundred steps in this way, I saw a three-story restaurant with the three characters "Baiwang Building" written on it, which looked quite impressive.
A middle-aged man who looked like a wealthy businessman hurriedly came out to greet him. Together with Qian Kun and Hei Tuyue, he led the way and led everyone upstairs.
When we arrived on the third floor, it was obvious that the place had been reserved. All the partitions and screens had been removed, making it look quite open.
Six banquet tables have been set up in the hall, two of which are already occupied, but the banquet has not yet started. Seeing the people from the county hall arriving, these people stood up to greet them.
Yang Zhen looked carefully and found that one table was filled with mortals and the other table was filled with mortal monks. She couldn't help but feel strange.
Fang Hong swaggered towards the main table, Qian Kun followed him and sat on his right, and on the other side, on the left, Yang Zhen's position should be according to the rules.
But Yang Zhen really doesn't want to sit with such people. She has already played out her hypocrisy last night. Wouldn't it be tiring to do it again today?
He saw that there were only seven people sitting at the table full of mortals, and there was still one empty seat, so he went over to say hello and sat down at this table.
Fang Hong glanced this way and remained silent. Perhaps in his heart, he was also unwilling to deal with Yang Zhenxu.
After everyone sat down, Qian Kun first said a few opening remarks, and then Fang Hong stood up and delivered a passionate speech. Then there was Yang Zhen. After what happened just now, Fang Hong seemed to have figured it out and no longer stopped him from speaking.
After Yang Zhen sat down, the next person to stand up and speak was an old man next to him.
"Today the new director of Xianmen takes office, this county is very happy..."
Only then did Yang Zhen realize that the people sitting at her table were all local officials from the county. There were County Magistrate, Lord Bo, County Lieutenant, Jiaoyu and others, and the old man who spoke was the Magistrate of Wushui County.
After the magistrate finished speaking, someone stood up at the table where monks and mortals were mixed. He was a fat man with a rich face and introduced himself as Liang. After a few words, Yang Zhen already understood that the people sitting at that table were representatives of the eight major immortal cultivating families in Wushui County.
Celebrities from this county have gathered together!
After the fat man finished speaking, the banquet finally began.
The county magistrate originally thought that Yang Zhen was just a handyman at the county hall, but now that they knew each other's identities, they started chatting enthusiastically with Yang Zhen.
After chatting for a few words, Yang Zhen couldn't help but feel very fond of him.
The old man's surname was Liu. He was in his fifties and had a thin appearance. Although his hair was quite gray, he could tell that he must have been well-groomed when he was young.
And this old man’s experience is quite unusual.
He was a Jinshi in his mid-twenties and entered the Hanlin Academy. He then wrote a letter to impeach the powerful ministers at the time, and was imprisoned and threatened with death. He only survived after being rescued by his colleagues.
A few years later, the powerful minister fell, and he rose again, but he kept rising and falling in the local officialdom. After changing two places, he offended local powerful people and was dismissed from office again.
As of today, this is the second time it has happened.
Sounds like an upright official! Yang Zhen was filled with admiration. When he heard Magistrate Liu talk about his experience in prison, he felt the same and casually sent Wang Bo's famous article:
"The cicadas sing in the west, and the guests in the south are deep in thought. ... No one believes in nobleness, but who can show his heart."
He was immediately amazed by this old man and became a close friend.
Then, Yang Zhen became very interested, and even presented the famous quotes that she had recited back then.
Talking about the hardships of people's livelihood - "It's noon on the day of hoeing, and the sweat is dripping from the soil. Who knows that every grain of food on the plate is hard work."
The Wushui River outside the city is majestic - "The sky surrounds the plains, and the river flows into the broken mountains."
The old man misses his hometown - "I am a stranger in a foreign land, but I miss my family even more during festive seasons."
Especially at the end, when the old man talked about his late wife traveling around the world with him, drifting from place to place, and eventually contracting an illness and dying, Yang Zhen said:
"Ten years of life and death are uncertain. If you don't think about it, you will never forget it."
He immediately burst into tears and couldn't help himself. People around him also looked at him sideways.
"Master Yang," Magistrate Liu held his hand and burst into tears: "I've lost my temper today and can't stay with you anymore. Please forgive me."
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