Houcheng
Lan Bingrong was looking at the shop, but he was lazy and not in a good mood.
He has been in this state since he came back from attending Lord Lu Deshenglu's Hongmen Banquet yesterday.
Lan Bingrong is a small landowner in Houcheng. His family owns dozens of hectares of fertile land and many shops and houses. He also has a place in the wealthy circle of Houcheng.
The day before, the new Houcheng County Magistrate Lu Deshenglu hosted a banquet for the wealthy landowners of Houcheng.
When they receive the post, they know it in their mind.
Before going, his wife warned him to follow the crowd.
He himself also made a good idea. He would donate as much as others donated without making any mistakes.
However, Mr. Lu is too eloquent and very good at deceiving people, worthy of his background as a royal censor. Then something went wrong for him.
That day, Mr. Lu's opening remarks were that Houcheng was in a difficult situation and people's livelihood was very difficult.
They, the wealthy landowners, would understand immediately. Mr. Lu wanted to seek help from them.
Mr. Lu did not force them to donate how much. He gave him two options, either they would give him some money, or he would lend the money to the Houcheng County Government.
For the latter, Mr. Lu said that he could establish a written certificate on behalf of Hou Cheng and pay interest, but the interest was a bit small.
As for the use of the borrowed money, Mr. Lu roughly said that it would be used for the construction of Hou City.
Then it was up to them to choose.
The others were very wary and thought that what Mr. Lu told them was just a bastard chanting sutras and would not listen.
When the time came, I was given a small meat bun worth two to three thousand taels and left.
He was the only one who felt that Master Lu's words were very reasonable and that he had a clear vision of Houcheng's development and planning. He foolishly lent out twenty thousand taels in exchange for an IOU stamped with the stamp of Houcheng County Magistrate.
When Lan Bingrong came out of the county government office, his rival Geng Yuan learned that he had paid 20,000 taels and called him a fool.
Lan Bingrong returned home with an IOU of 20,000 taels. Although his wife didn't say anything, she kept sighing at him.
He felt uncomfortable all night, tossing and turning all night, unable to sleep.
His wife also couldn't sleep because of him. Finally, she said to him, forget it, this money should be used as a token of gratitude for Mr. Lu's contribution to Houcheng.
As one of the few landowners and wealthy households in Houcheng, to be honest, their family is very grateful to Mr. Lu.
If he hadn't turned the tide and negotiated with the Xianbei Royal Court, they would have suffered heavy losses in the war.
It is very likely that Houcheng will not be able to withstand Xianbei's attack. After all, the battle just ended last winter and the damage to Houcheng was very great. Houcheng, a small and broken county, cannot withstand two battles a year.
They had to run away in advance. They couldn't take the fields, houses and shops with them. They could only take away some of their loose wealth. Wasn't it a heavy loss?
Although he was comforted, Lan Bingrong still felt heartbroken when he thought of the 20,000 taels he had lent, and he became even less motivated.
At this moment, his rival Geng Yuan came in, waving his fan and with a shy round belly, "Lan Bingrong, what do you think? How could you do such a stupid thing as lending 20,000 taels of silver to the government?" "
"If you have too much money to spend, lend it to me. Although I won't give you interest, I will at least return the principal to you."
Lan Bingrong didn't want to talk to him.
Geng Yuan continued, "After all, you have lived for decades, so you won't end up in a dog's belly, right? Magistrate Lu's banquet this time was clearly for alms. He said it was for borrowing money. In the end, if you don't pay, you still have to pay for it." Can you chase Mr. Lu after the county government to get it?"
In short, it's meat buns fighting dogs. The two choices are actually just the difference in the size of the meat buns. Who is willing to give to the big one if he can give it to the small one?
Geng Yuan didn't understand.
"You are so smart. You knew it was a meat bun beating a dog, but you still donated three thousand taels?" Lan Bingrong asked him.
Choking, he wanted not to give it, but could he really not give it?
In fact, they all knew yesterday that if they go, they can't leave without a cent. They all heard about Lu Desheng's difficulty. I heard that among the nobles of Chang'an City, if the female relatives of the Lu family were left uninvited during a banquet, Mr. Lu would not hesitate to seduce their men.
He is definitely not as easy to deal with as Zheng Qiao.
All the people who were invited to the banquet had already considered how much they should donate before going. Even he, who was so stingy, became more generous this time and donated three thousand taels. After the donation, he felt that he would not be able to sleep for three or four days.
But when he thought that the fool in front of him had borrowed twenty thousand taels, he felt that he could do it again.
Just then, the waiter rushed in and said, "Master, good news, good news!"
"What good news?"
"Our county magistrate has been promoted to county governor!"
Hearing this, Lan Bingrong and Geng Yuan said in unison, "What?"
The waiter repeated it again.
Lan Bingrong stumbled into the backyard to find his wife, "Madam, madam!"
When he saw his wife, he immediately shared the good news, "Madam, the imperial envoy has come to announce that Mr. Lu has been promoted to the governor of our Liaodong County for his merit!"
It’s worth spending this money to establish a relationship with the Sheriff! It’s worth it!
Now the bitter enemy Geng Yuan must be beating his chest and repenting so much that his intestines are blue, hahaha——
The wife listened with surprise, not expecting that fools can be blessed.
Then she thought of something and said, "You said that Mr. Lu has been promoted. Will he leave Houcheng and move to the governor's mansion?"
It’s true that just as the old worries have gone away, new worries have arisen.
Lan Bingrong went to the back, leaving Geng Yuan outside. He confirmed with the waiter again, "Is it true?"
"Dong Geng's family, it's true. The county government is setting off firecrackers and throwing out wedding money."
Geng Yuan glanced towards the backyard, muttered, Foolish people are lucky, and left.
After the news of Lu Desheng's promotion to the county governor spread, the people in Houcheng were both happy and worried. They were happy that such a good official was promoted, but they were worried that he was going to the county governor's mansion.
He went to the Sheriff's Mansion. Is Houcheng the same as before?
For a time, the people were panicked and felt very insecure.
Lu Songli and her people have been paying attention to the public opinion in Houcheng. After hearing the concerns of the people, she and her father discussed this issue and decided not to move the mansion for the sake of the stability of Liaodong County.
After making a decision, they took action in the afternoon and arranged for someone to replace the plaque for the Houcheng County Government Office.
Their people moved very vigorously, cleaning, moving ladders, and carrying plaques, which attracted the attention of the surrounding people.
"What are you doing?"
"Change the plaque?"
"Why do you want to change?"
Following the discussion among the people, the workers took off the plaque on the Houcheng County Government Office and replaced it with a new one. The new plaque was covered with red silk cloth, so the words inscribed on it could not be seen clearly.
Just when the crowd was buzzing, Lu Desheng came out.
"Is it Mr. Lu?"
"Yes, Mr. Lu is here."
After Lu Desheng came out, he opened his hand towards the people and pressed down, "Fellow fellow citizens, please be quiet for a moment."
As his words sounded, everyone spontaneously stopped speaking and their eyes focused on him.
He was wearing regular clothes today and had a smile on his face. People who saw him for the first time found him very friendly.
"Everyone must know that I am Lu Desheng. I also know that recently everyone is worried about whether I will leave Houcheng and go to Xiangping County Sheriff's Mansion after I am promoted from county magistrate to county governor."
Hearing this, almost all the people present said silently in their hearts, yes, this is what they are most worried about now.
"I will tell you now that I have decided not to move the mansion. From now on, this will be the county governor's mansion!" When Lu Desheng finished speaking, he held the hanging hanging in his hand.
A new plaque suddenly appeared with the words "Jianzhifu" written on it.
Only then did the common people realize that what Mr. Lu said was actually true. Now even the Houcheng County Government Office plaque has been changed to the County Sheriff's Office!
After Lu Desheng finished speaking, he nodded to everyone and went back.
Some people realized that Mr. Lu only came out and said a few words before going back, but what he said was what they were most concerned about.
"Master Lu is really concise and concise." When you have something to say, don't use so much official talk.
"Master Lu is very busy."
Not far from the crowd, Geng Yuan muttered, Lan Bingrong is really lucky.
They went to a banquet that day and gave the little buns to the rich and landlords. Now they felt really envious and jealous of Lan Bingrong.
As the saying goes, the one who is near the water and the tower first gets the moon. This Lan Bingrong may have left a very good impression on Mr. Lu. If anything good happens to the government in the future, why don't you think about him?
The common people paused for a long time under the new plaque. While they felt relieved, they also felt that the Houcheng County Government Office, as a county governor's office, was not impressive enough.
Some of the people in the crowd just now have been to Xiangping and have seen the governor's mansion. They have talked to everyone about the magnificence of the county governor's mansion. Looking at their small county government again, they, Mr. Lu, have been wronged.
After the people left, the people below reported to Lu Songli the general direction of public opinion, and this direction was what she arranged for people to guide.
Lu Songli knew very well that if they did not occupy the high ground of public opinion, others would occupy it.
Next, as her father decided not to move to the government, and the fermentation spread, the people's hearts in Houcheng and even the entire Liaodong County became stable again.
These were all things she expected.
The decision she and her father made had the flavor of "the king dies for the country, and the emperor guards the country."
