Lou Dongfang felt a little ashamed after being glared at by Li Yao, feeling that he was judging a gentleman with a villain's heart.
"Your Excellency, Mayor Zhu and Brother Gongfu's donation of seven thousand taels of silver is definitely a generous act..."
Lou Dongfang picked up the wine pot and poured wine for everyone at the table with a smile on his face, "But for Liping Mansion, the money is still not enough..."
Liu Gongfu hurriedly corrected: "Master, what you said is wrong. These gold and silver were donated by Mayor Zhu. I, Liu Gongfu, am only responsible for making connections and have nothing to do with me. In the past six months, I have earned more than one hundred taels of silver in Chang'an Town. I You can donate it to Mr. Li."
After listening to Liu Gongfu's words, Li Yao hurriedly said: "No way, Gongfu, you are now in your forties, and you have a wife and children at home to support. How can I ask for your money?"
"Hey, hey...where do I have a wife and children?"
Liu Gongfu laughed loudly and said, "Ever since that stinky bitch ran away, I swore that I would never marry again in this life. I am still alone in my family. I have enough to eat and my whole family is not hungry."
"That's even worse!"
Li Yao put down the chopsticks in his hand and warned sternly: "My lord, Brother Yu is two years older than you. Please listen to my advice. There are three ways to be unfilial and to have no offspring is the worst. Find a mother-in-law and have a baby as soon as possible. Otherwise, how can you tell your parents at home?" Explain?"
Liu Gongfu raised his glass and drank it down in one gulp, and said nonchalantly: "My parents died early, and they didn't know. I still have two brothers. They can carry on the family line."
"My lord, your stubborn temper has not changed at all!"
Li Yao smiled bitterly and motioned to Lou Dongfang to pour wine for Liu Gongfu, "That's it. Brother Yu will analyze the pros and cons for you later."
Lou Dongfang picked up the wine pot and filled it up for Liu Gongfu: "You Shandong people are so stubborn. Isn't it for your own good that you get a wife?"
Zhu Renxia thought that Lou Dongfang was dissatisfied with his donation for too little, so he clasped his fists and said, "Before coming to Liping Mansion, I didn't know that Mr. Li was in such a predicament, otherwise I would have sent another three to five thousand taels of silver. Don't worry, Lord Magistrate. I will definitely send someone to bring another batch of money when I get back."
"I understand Mayor Zhu's wishes."
Li Yao stood up and thanked him, "The money from Chang'an Town is not brought by the strong wind. It is a great kindness to be able to sponsor seven thousand taels of my government. I can't be greedy anymore."
"That was not what I meant."
Lou Dongfang motioned for everyone to pick up the food, "How can you catch a pig with wool? The prefect is aboveboard, and Lou is not a villain who has to look forward to Shu. I just thought of a good idea, which can help the prefect raise more expenses."
"tell me the story."
Li Yao, who was in a good mood, put down his chopsticks and listened attentively.
Liu Gongfu picked up a piece of fat meat and stuffed it into his mouth. His mouth was full of oil after eating: "Tell me, let me hear what Master Lou has to offer?"
Lou Dongfang counted on his fingers: "As a provincial capital, a team of at least a thousand people is needed to maintain public security and city defense. Let's calculate it as a thousand people. Each person will receive one and a half taels of silver per month. That's one thousand five hundred taels per month." Pay silver.
Before Mr. Li arrived, the corn in the granary was completely looted by the rebels, not even a grain of rice was left.
A family of more than a thousand people must eat and purchase food from everywhere. Based on the calculation of 500 taels of silver per person per month, more than 1,000 people will spend more than 500 taels of silver in a month.
The weapons, armor, clothes, and flags in the warehouse have all been robbed. You have to buy them from everywhere. One thousand taels of silver may not be enough for this, right?
The entire Liping government office now only has five horses, which were brought by Mr. Li when he took office. At least one hundred more horses need to be purchased, right?
Calculated at ten taels of silver per horse, this is another thousand taels of silver expenditure, not to mention the fodder the horses eat and the labor to feed them.
The magistrate's office was burned down. It will cost at least five hundred taels of silver to repair and rebuild. We also need to build city walls and replace damaged city gates. These add up to another thousand taels of expenditure... Do you think about it, how much does this add up to? "
Liu Gongfu calculated very carefully: "Ah... these add up to six or seven thousand taels. Could it be that the money sponsored by the mayor can only last for one month?"
"okay!"
Li Yao couldn't help but interrupt Lou Dongfang who was talking endlessly: "Mayor Zhu is not the prefect and has no obligation to solve your problems for you. Just tell me what solution you came up with?"
Lou Dongfang had no choice but to get straight to the point: "My solution is to hold a fund-raising meeting in Liping City according to the original plan, let Mayor Zhu and his men pretend to be squires to donate money, and encourage other people in the city to donate money and borrow money. I think it will be possible. We can raise another amount of money and food to solve the current urgent needs."
Li Yao stroked his beard and muttered: "This method is good, but you still have to convince a few local businessmen to donate money and borrow money in their names, so as to mobilize the emotions of the gentry in the city. Otherwise, a group of strangers will donate money. Anyone with any sense can tell it’s a scam.”
"Okay, I'll take care of this matter. I'll lobby a few wealthy businessmen tonight." Lou Dongfang agreed.
An hour later, the banquet ended.
Li Yao personally sent Zhu Renxia out of the "yamen" and told Lou Dongfang to send him and Liu Gongfu to the post house to stay, "Mayor Zhu has solved my urgent need. Don't slack off."
Zhu Renxia clasped his fists and said, "Master Magistrate, please don't be polite. Our brothers are all staying in the Minzhuang barracks. We and I will just go to the barracks and make do for one night."
After bidding farewell to Li Yao, Zhu Renxia and Liu Gongfu quickly returned to the barracks and said goodbye to Lou Dongfang: "Master Lou is going to do your work. We are here waiting for arrangements."
Lou Dongfang apologized again and again: "Brother Gongfu and I are not polite. If you are negligent, please ask Mayor Zhu Haihan."
"I'm out of town. Master is just busy."
Zhu Renxia waved goodbye to Lou Dongfang and entered the barracks side by side with Liu Gongfu.
More than thirty horses were seen forming a group, surrounding the carriage in the center. Ding Xiao was personally leading seven or eight people to guard the carriage, not daring to blink for fear of being stolen by a burglar.
"Mayor, Commander Liu, are you back?" Ding Xiao saluted with his sword in hand.
Zhu Renxia warned: "Captain Ding has worked hard tonight. You must change shifts frequently to ensure that our brothers sleep well."
Ding Xiao said: "Mayor, don't worry, we are divided into three squads for patrolling, with ten people in each squad. We can go to bed after being on duty for two consecutive hours. Nothing will happen."
Jin Zhu, who had occupied a barracks alone, heard the commotion and came out. He raised his eyebrows and asked: "How was it? How was the discussion with the prefect? Did you agree to upgrade our Chang'an village to a town?"
Liu Gongfu, who was slightly drunk, laughed and said, "Don't worry, Miss Jin. With Liu Gongfu's face here, can the prefect refuse?"
"Battle Commander Liu has a good relationship with Magistrate Li and Master Lou. Even if he doesn't have these gold and silver, he will definitely agree to our request." Zhu Renxia smiled and stretched his muscles and said.
Liu Gongfu blushed and said with a smile: "I was just joking, these gold and silver are so useful. For Mr. Li, this is coal in the heavy snow."
"Uh...is the dignified prefect so short of money?" Jin Zhu couldn't help sniffing and asked.
Liu Gongfu said: "The granaries and treasury in Liping City were looted by the rebels. Even the prefect's office was burned down by a fire. The place where Mr. Li works now is rented. What do you think?"
"whee."
Jin Zhu scratched his head and laughed playfully, but did not continue to speak.
To put it bluntly, the first fire that lit the prefect's Yamen was set by himself. Together with the other brothers who lit the fire together, Tian Zongren's mansion was burned to the ground, but unexpectedly, Li Yao, his successor, was deceived.
Zhu Renxia added: "The prefect happily agreed to upgrade our Chang'an village to a town, but he asked us to help perform a play. We can't return tomorrow. Let's go to bed early tonight!"
"acting?"
Jin Zhu was puzzled, "What kind of drama are we acting? How can we act? Isn't this the magistrate's way of making things difficult for others?"
Zhu Renxia smiled faintly: "Stop guessing, you will know tomorrow."
Jin Zhu nodded: "Okay, you go to bed first. Tonight I will help Ding Xiao and others guard the gold and silver. If any thieves come, I will be merciless under the sword."
At that moment, Zhu Renxia and Liu Gongfu got into a barracks, each had a bed, and fell asleep.
