The Agricultural Tycoon of the Red House

All the officials hesitated a bit.They all copied their property and gave it to them, so they don't end up stealing chickens and losing money.

"My lord, I think we'd better think it over again. First investigate clearly before making a decision." Zhang Gan, the chief executive, hesitated.

"Well, indeed, I will seriously consider it carefully. But don't worry too much about you guys. People have emotions and desires, and they are as good as they are. Tell you to shed some blood, and it will make you feel distressed. Who can't open the pot? ? Tell me, I will return the money to you, unequivocally. But when something happens, don't try to beg me, I won't accept that kind of favor!"

Wang Qinglei's words shocked the small officials present and had nothing to say.Whoever wants to make a special case, not to mention that Hou Ye can't pass the test, just offended Wang Qinglei, the immediate boss, and will have to wear small shoes in the future.

Everyone smiled and agreed, saying that it would be good to let Wang Qinglei make the decision, and then they all broke up awkwardly.

After bluffing the group of people, Wang Qinglei pouted for a while, then went straight to the back house.His first wife had died a long time ago, and there were no important people in the back house except for a bunch of aunts and concubines, and two unworthy concubines.

Now, in the main hall of Fu'an Hall, there is a delicately dressed young girl, her pink face is full of spring, and she is wearing a goose yellow dress with delicate phalaenopsis embroidered on it. Although her face is sad, her eyebrows and eyes are pretty Beauty at a glance.

"Father!"

When Xia Jingui saw Wang Qinglei, he stood up and saluted.

Wang Qinglei deliberately brought a few wives here. Although Xia Jingui is her adopted daughter in name, which is not a taboo, it is better to be generous so as not to be slandered.Wang Qing laughed as soon as he entered the door, and asked Xia Jingui, "Are you used to living in Jinling City? Is there any news from your mother? How is the situation?"

"It's okay to live, but it's too lonely to be alone. My mother will be released in another month, and I will bring her back." Xia Jingui couldn't help but feel anxious when he mentioned his mother. .

Wang Qinglei nodded, took a peek at her expression, and asked tentatively, "Gui'er, do you know Lord Jia?"

Xia Jingui was stunned, pursed her mouth and said in a very unhappy way: "Father did it on purpose! Why bother to ask this, you know it well. My mother's business is because of him, and I also... After all, I know him even after she turned into ashes! "

"Hehe," Wang Qinglei stroked his beard with an embarrassed smile, "you are good at everything, but you are too simple and self-willed. The adoptive father knows that you like that Lord Jia, but you don't think about your identity, how can you be worthy of it?" ?”

Xia Jingui refused to accept it, and stood straight in front of Wang Qinglei, deliberately letting her see his appearance clearly, "How am I not as good as him? Am I ugly? Isn't it good-looking?"

"You have a beautiful appearance, there is nothing wrong with that. But you know that what your foster father is talking about is not about this, but about your family background. Are you comparable to the daughter of the Duke of Li?"

"It's incomparable. Although her family has power, it is definitely not as rich as mine." Xia Jingui has always respected herself as a Bodhisattva, and girls from other families really don't care about her.

"You, you're still young and inexperienced, so I've given up on thinking about it. My adoptive father will find a good family for you!" Wang Qinglei frowned, thinking that there must be a better choice for Xia Jingui.But if this girl insists on marrying Lord Jia Hou, then at most she can only be a concubine for others, which is really a disadvantage.

"I don't want to marry! Just him!" Xia Jingui said sharply.

Wang Qinglei smiled and waved at her, "Forget it, nothing, I owe you, I just want to tell you about it today. I have a chance with you here, maybe I can give it a try and send you to By the side of Lord Jia. But don’t even think about being a wife. She’s already married. It’s impossible. But I see that you are very ambitious, and you don’t even look down on his wife. How can you become a concubine? I shouldn’t Come up with such a bad idea."

"Isn't it just being a concubine? What's the big deal. I, Xia Jingui, can't get anything I like. The more I can't get it, the more interesting I find it." Xia Jingui gritted her teeth and said ruthlessly.So what about being a concubine, she has money in her family, and when she arrives in Rongfu, "money can turn ghosts around", just happened to deal with that annoying Mrs. Hou Ye.

Besides her mother's matter, Jia Lian was responsible after all, and it was reasonable for her to seek justice and get it from him.

"Then I'll help you decide this matter!" Wang Qinglei rolled his eyes, a little happy, seeing Xia Jingui looking at him suspiciously, he hurriedly changed into a serious face, and explained, "It stands to reason that I shouldn't help you with this. , but your father left early, and your mother entrusted me to take care of you. As a adoptive father, I should help you. People must not forget their origins. I was able to achieve what I am today with the help of your father. I will always remember the kindness in my heart. My foster father is very happy to be able to help you."

Hearing these words, Xia Jingui was so moved that tears were about to fall, and hurriedly saluted Wang Qinglei to thank him.It is necessary to give him some money for entertainment arrangements.

Seeing that there was still money to take, Wang Qinglei's eyes became brighter, and after rejecting it twice, he accepted it unceremoniously.

……

On the third day of Jia Lian's stay at Jinling Station, he suddenly received an invitation from the prefect Wang Qinglei, inviting him to have a gathering at noon the next day.

He has been busy with government affairs for the past few days. He followed the people from the Ministry of Industry to the field to plan the canal line, and he was really tired after rushing on the road and supervising work for days.Jia Lian was planning to take a rest tomorrow, when Wang Qinglei's post arrived in time.Jia Lian felt that the magistrate must have inquired in advance and calculated it.

Jia Lian naturally refused such a troublesome invitation.

In the afternoon, after confirming the route to lead the canal to the last piece of land, everyone can finally rest.The principal, Zhang Gan, brought some small officials to bid farewell to Jia Lian, and said that he would go back to take a good rest and attend the condolence banquet prepared for them by the magistrate tomorrow.

Jia Lian: "Consolation banquet? Will you all go?"

Zhang Gan hurriedly nodded, and specifically explained that the banquet was not extravagant, just some simple meals, mainly for everyone to get together, watch a play and chat, and have a good time.

"It turned out to be a comfort banquet, but he was very thoughtful." Jia Lian turned his head and told Xing'er to inform the people in the restaurant to inform Yuelai Restaurant to deliver the dishes to the magistrate's mansion.

Zhang Gan and others were very moved when they saw Master Jia personally ordering food for them, and they all expressed their thanks.

Jia Lian smiled: "I thought I had been busy for so many days, and I finally took a day off to let you have a good rest at home. I didn't expect that you are all people who like to be lively. Then the family banquet I ordered for you at Yuelai Restaurant is not necessary." It's the same, and it's the same if you transfer to Wang Zhifu."

After all, these magistrates will have to be troubled by the follow-up construction of the canal diversion, and Jia Lian has already arranged a family banquet for each of them.

When everyone heard that it turned out to be like this, almost all of them showed remorse.The food at Yuelai Restaurant is one of the most famous in Jinling City. It is said that the level of food produced there is similar to that of the imperial chefs in the palace.Each family has a table of family banquets, which can earn a lot of money.

Master Jia Hou was so troublesome, they really wasted this opportunity for nothing.

Men are busy outside, what they look forward to the most is "the wife and children are hot on the kang" after returning home.A few good dishes, a good wine, and a lively family, which is homely and the most warm.Entertainment in the officialdom, that is called relaxation, that is called rest?Shit!Social entertainment is comparable to work.Not to mention that there are people above, you have to be cautious in your words and deeds, nodding and bowing.It's just a few peers gathered at the same table, and they have to be careful when speaking, afraid of comparisons, afraid of jokes, and even more afraid of forming a clique and putting themselves on the list...

A few petty officials have been working these few days, following those who ran here and there, putting in a lot of effort.Hearing the words at this moment, everyone felt bitter in their hearts, and glanced at Zhang Qian dissatisfiedly from the corner of their eyes.

In fact, Zhang Gan is not willing, but there is no way, this is the order of the magistrate.If someone posted a post in the morning and was rejected, they can only drag them, these petty officials, to take the blame!

"Then Hou Ye, will you go tomorrow? If you don't go, the banquet will be bleak and lack the finishing touch." Zhang Gan asked flatteringly.

When Jia Lian heard this, she lowered her eyes and thought about it.

Zhang Ganxin raised his throat.

"Since everyone is here, I will definitely go." Jia Lian said.

Zhang Gan breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and was happy to salute Jia Lian again before leaving.

Xue Pan and Liu Xianglian followed Jia Lian on horseback and made a long detour back to Jinling City.Jia Lian's purpose was to have a better look at the land and environment here, while Xue Pan nagged all the way, wanting to invite Jia Lian to live in their Xue family's mansion in Jinling.

Jia Lian stopped and stopped all the way, went to the fields to grab some soil if he had nothing to do, and then observed the rise of the dealer, and then said a few words to the accompanying household official Cheng Shuliang to record.Cheng Shuliang knew the habits of his master Shangshu early on, and prepared a pen and ink on the spot to record them one by one.

Several people went all the way to Jinling City, but Jia Lian didn't respond to Xue Pan's nagging.

After Cheng Cheng dismounted, Xue Pan couldn't bear it any longer, and went to Jia Lian's side to ask him if he could do it.

Jia Lian asked him, "What?"

"So I've been nagging all the way, but you didn't hear a word. I said go to my house and live in Xue's mansion, it's more comfortable there." Xue Pan said aggrieved.

"Brother, how much did you pay for the rice?" Jia Lian asked casually when he heard a middle-aged man complaining to his companions about the expensive rice.

The middle-aged man looked at Jia Lian.Jia Lian only wore a very simple old cloth shirt today because he went to the field to supervise the work.Although it was an old clothes picked out by Xing'er.But in the eyes of middle-aged men, Jia Lian who has a horse is still a rich man, so he directly asked him for a price of one stone, "One or two dollars! If your boy quotes the price, don't think it's too expensive to beat him. That's the price!"

After the man finished speaking, he left complaining.

"Not much." Xing'er scratched his head.

Jia Lian didn't say anything, and called everyone to go on.

Xue Pan endured it again and again, and shouted: "Second brother!"

Jia Lian turned her head coldly: "What's the matter?"

Xue Pan puffed up his cheeks in anger.

Jia Lian was stunned for a moment, then remembered, and said to Xue Pan with a ruthless expression, "I won't go."

"Hey, you—" Xue Pan gasped.

"Master Hou said, don't go!" Liu Xianglian raised her eyebrows at him meanly.

Xue Pan was even angrier when he saw this, and he led the horse and followed behind in frustration, muttering, "If you don't go, you won't say it sooner, so that people have hope all the way, and so much talk was wasted."

"Ha." Liu Xianglian snorted and laughed, for some reason, he was happy to see Xue Pan deflated.

From a distance, a group of people could be seen gathering at the corner of the street.

I vaguely heard someone shouting, the voice was crisp and loud.

"Everyone, ahem... I'm as sick as a disabled person, and I really can't afford to raise my poor daughter. Please help me to accept my daughter and let her live a good life. I can ask for money for medicine to cure the disease, cough cough!"

Xue Pan thought that Lian's second brother had always been a good man who helped the poor people with righteousness, so he wanted to learn from him, so he hurriedly led the horse over.Liu Xianglian has the same chivalrous heart to help the poor. He used to have no money, but now he has a little money in his pocket, and wants to help, so he followed Xue Pan.

When the two got closer, they realized that Jia Lian was also there.

Seeing this, Xue Pan was even happier, handed over the horse to his subordinates, and moved towards his second brother.He was rather curious, so he had to take a good look at what the woman who was stopped by Lian's second brother looked like.

Looking around, I saw a ten-year-old girl sitting there in despair, with a beautiful and well-behaved appearance. The most wonderful thing is that she has a little rouge mark between her eyebrows the size of a grain of rice, just like that Bodhisattva.Xue Pan was very interested in her little rouge, if Lian's second brother hadn't taken a fancy to it first, he would have bought this girl and taken it into the house.

Just now Jia Lian listened to the kidnapper's words and seemed to be pretending. She expected to be a human trafficker, so she came over to see who the poor girl was.Seeing the cinnabar mole on the center of the girl's eyebrows, and thinking that this is the boundary of Jinling and Xue Pan, she immediately guessed that this girl was probably Yinglian.I thought Xue Pan had missed it because he had entered Beijing ahead of schedule.Sure enough, people are not as good as 'books'.

Jia Lian glanced at Xue Pan intentionally. There was a short distance between him and Xue Pan.

Just as Jia Lian was about to go out and ask Xue Pan what he meant, Xing'er came up to Xue Pan and muttered something, then pulled him aside.

Xue Pan originally sent Xing'er to ask on his behalf if the second brother liked the girl, and if he liked the girl, he would pay to buy it as a present for Lian's second brother.

When Xing'er heard these words, he hurriedly stopped Xue Pan, and made his own decision, so he first refuted it on behalf of his family's second master Lian.

"Uncle Xue, you may not know that our Lord Hou only has Second Mistress in his heart!" Xing'er whispered to Xue Pan.This is what he summed up after hearing from the wives and his own observations.

Xue Pan firmly shook his head to express his disbelief.He likes such a good girl, and Lian's second brother is also a man, so he must like her too.

"Let me tell you the truth, there are quite a few of the maids that our second grandma married as a dowry girl with beautiful looks and good figures. The second grandma is virtuous, and she was willing to do so, but the second master didn't like any of them. Instead, he has been using the old man to serve her. , those beautiful maidservants are all in the back, and no one shows any face. Our second master always only cares about whether he is smooth, whether he can handle things, and whether he can speak well. As for other things, he doesn't hesitate to look at them. Now The girl who was sold is far less beautiful than the one in the second master's room, do you think the second master will be tempted?"

"Hearing what you said, there is some truth to it. It seems that Lian's second brother is just trying to save the girl." Xue Pan coughed twice, straightened his clothes, and rushed into the crowd generously.

"Everyone is gone, I want this person!" Xue Pan pointed at Yinglian and shouted domineeringly at the crowd.

Everyone recognized Xue Pan when they saw him. Isn't this the famous Xue family in Jinling, whose pearls are as golden as iron, Xue Bawang?Everyone was terrified. They turned their heads and saw that Xue Pan was leading a group of followers on tall horses. They all felt that they were not easy to mess with, and scattered in all directions after exclaiming and discussing.

Its speed is as fast as blinking three times.

The kidnapper was dumbfounded, and hurriedly led Yinglian to look at Xue Pan, and offered a high price of 60 taels.

Xue Pan didn't counter the price, and asked someone to pay immediately.It was only under Jia Lian's reminder that he knew that he had to take this person to the government to go through the documents and sign the contract.

One was in the east of the city yesterday, and the other is in the west of the city today.Kidnap thinks Bawang Xue is so foolish, but that handsome young man who is with him looks like an official.He has to run away!

After the kidnapper collected the money, he insisted on taking Yinglian back to tidy up, and then went to the Yamen to hand over the documents tomorrow.Xue Pan felt that he wanted to do good things in front of Lian's second brother to the end, so it would not be difficult for him, "This is not good, people must be taken away, you father and daughter together." Jia Lian directly dismissed.

When the kidnapper heard this gesture, he knelt down in fright, "Then...then why don't I sell it? This is my daughter, so I can decide whether to sell it or not?"

Although Xue Pan was the one who bought and spent the money, the kidnapper begged Jia Lian with teary eyes, and he knew at a glance that he was the master of the crowd.

"Say it, no way." Jia Lian vetoed ruthlessly.

Xue Pan was very dissatisfied, and pretended to kick the kidnapper, "Under the eyes of everyone, you took the money, and you still want to deny it? Besides, if you don't sell it now, you will still sell it later. Why don't we let her live a good life with us, Grandpa has plenty of money to buy her clothes."

Seeing that they insisted on taking Yinglian, the kidnapper said that it would be good for his daughter to follow, and he would not go.

"You old man, it's so strange. I'll take you to my place to eat delicious food and drink spicy food. There's nothing to be afraid of. Come with me, why bother crying and crying in this place to attract people's attention." Xue Pan said. , he waved his hand and asked his subordinates to lead the people, and if he didn't leave, he would carry them away.

The kidnapper had no choice but to accompany Yinglian to the post station.

The kidnapper saw that the man Xue Pan respected was indeed an official as he expected, and he was also the famous Lord Jia.He was afraid that his identity would be exposed, and seeing that Yinglian had been arranged, he was about to leave.But suddenly he was caught and went to see the official.

The people from Yingtianfu only mentioned Gusu Zhen's family, the kidnapper's face suddenly changed, under the severe torture, he recruited everything.

The little girl Yinglian was left, and Jia Lian ordered the Ministry of Household Cleaning Officer to check the files on the record to find the address of Yinglian's mother Feng's family. Once found, she can arrange a car to send Yinglian back.But checking files is a bit cumbersome and takes a few days, during which time Yinglian has to stay in the inn for the time being.

This incident naturally reached Wang Qinglei's ears.

He was still a little hesitant about Xia Jingui's matter.Now that he heard that Jia Lian had taken in a girl in the street, he was as angry as he expected.So reassuring, his adopted daughter is outstanding in appearance, and if she wins her heart, he will be considered a mountain to rely on in the capital in the future.

On the day of the condolence banquet, Wang Qinglei happily led all the officials to welcome Jia Lian.

When we first met, it was inevitable to greet each other and sing praises.Just a few words will annoy Jia Lian.Wang Qinglei hurriedly told everyone to shut up and asked Jia Lian to take a seat.

Halfway through the banquet, everyone was half drunk, sitting in front of the stage, watching the play cheerfully.

Jia Lian and Wang Qinglei were in the first seat. After a while, Wang Qinglei asked Jia Lian to sit and rest in the back hall on the grounds that it was too noisy.

Jia Lian was not interested in watching operas at all, and just wanted to make a scene, so he followed.

Wang Qinglei moved his eyeballs and said with a smile: "My lord, I have something else I want to discuss with you, about the Small Peasant School."

When Jia Lian heard that it was a small peasant school, he became more concerned.

This time he went to the local area, in addition to supervising water conservancy, he also set up a "Small Peasant School" to do it.This is a new small institution he added to the Ministry of Household Cleaning Department, and the name is "Small Peasant School".This department is composed of professional people, and it is dedicated to popularizing agricultural knowledge and planting methods of new varieties, tracking and reporting special problems in local agriculture, and so on.

In ancient times, the idea of ​​small farmers was deeply rooted, and many people were unwilling to accept new changes.

Nowadays, potatoes are not only "famous" during the war in the northwest, but now they are only popular in a small part of the northwest and around the capital.There is still a long way to go before it can be widely promoted nationwide.Then there are tomatoes, cucumbers, snow peas, etc., and it must be more difficult to promote than the famous potatoes.

Therefore, Jia Lian needs to make demonstration points in each region, first to attract their attention, and then promote it.In the future, it will be convenient to popularize knowledge and so on. It is impossible for him to do it by himself. It is particularly important to build a special organization to quickly solve this kind of problem.

At present, the first thing Jia Lian has done is to establish a small farm school. He plans to temporarily send one or two people from the local household cleaning department to go there, and consider expanding it after the situation stabilizes.However, in this era, there are very few people who know how to both read and farm.During Jia Lian's journey, there were basically nine vacancies out of ten positions. If this continues and waits for him to return to Beijing, anyone who reads a book and reports to the emperor will have his department easily cancelled.

Therefore, Jia Lian, who is now facing a bottleneck, really hopes to get other people's opinions.

After all, Wang Qinglei is an old official who has worked in Jinling for many years. He is familiar with the local conditions and the local talents.If he can have a suitable candidate to recommend to him, he will save a lot of trouble.

After the two entered the room and sat down, Jia Lian probably took a look at the environment in the room.

The room is very elegantly furnished, neither luxurious nor monotonous, but the two masterpieces on the wall are a bit eye-catching. They were made by famous calligraphers and painters of the former dynasty. The high prices are hard to find in the market. It can be said to be priceless. Even Prime Minister Jing once mentioned it to him.

But Jia Lian's gaze didn't stay there, he just scanned the two paintings slightly and looked away.

Wang Qinglei saw that Jia Lian had no dislike for the painting, and his heart sank. He knew that this thing could not be given away, so he clapped his hands and ordered people to sing and dance. He wanted to chat with Jia Lian while drinking.

Jia Lian looked at Wang Qinglei suspiciously, not understanding the meaning of his move.Just now he pulled himself out, the purpose was to hide from the quiet, why is he singing and dancing again now?

If words and deeds are inconsistent, there must be problems.

Jia Lian didn't change his expression, just wait and see for now.

There were nine dancers, the head of which was a woman in a lake blue gauze dress, with an oval face, affectionate brows, and amused eyes.

All dancers are like this, and their eyes are more lively.

Jia Lian didn't think there was anything special about the dancing girls in front of him, so he didn't pay special attention to them. He only asked Wang Qinglei about the small farm school.

"Master Wang, is there a suitable person to recommend to me?"

However, Wang Qinglei stared at the dancing girl intently, with a light figure, slender waist and soft limbs, as he waved his sleeves, the feeling of a firm grip made one couldn't help but want to press her down and vent her anger.If Lord Jiahou was not still here, his soul would have been snatched away by that woman long ago.

"Ah, yes yes yes, I do have a suitable candidate here." Wang Qinglei looked at Jia Lian secretly, but found that he was not influenced by the dancing girls at all.

It shouldn't be, he spent a lot of money on this woman...

Jia Lian asked a series of questions: "Who is it? How old is it? How is your character? How many years have you been an official? How many years have you been working in agriculture? Can you call me immediately so that I can meet you now?"

Wang Qinglei was a little stunned when Lord Jia Hou, who was usually not very talkative, suddenly asked so many questions.