HCB Chapter 224 New County Magistrate
Chapter 224 New County Magistrate
Before leaving office, Wu Hongchang invited Mr. Cai to a banquet, but Mr. Cai declined due to illness. He then invited fellow apprentices Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng in the name of Wu Jiaxing.
Magistrate Wu and his family were quite polite to fellow apprentices Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng who came to the banquet.
During the meal, Ye Changyan noticed that County Magistrate Zhang was in a gloomy mood, so he chatted with him for a few words.
It turned out that County Cheng Zhang was not able to take over the position of county magistrate smoothly. At present, the candidate for the new county magistrate of Wanshou County has not been determined, and County Cheng Zhang is only temporarily acting as the county magistrate.
Ye Changyan had a hunch that County Magistrate Zhang's dream of becoming the magistrate of Wanshou County would ultimately be shattered.
Later facts also proved Ye Changyan's intuition, and the biggest problem seemed to be related to Ye Changyan.
Since this cattle farm and milk processing workshop were opened in Wanshou County last year, the tax revenue of Wanshou County has increased and the income of people in the surrounding villages has also increased significantly.
When County Magistrate Wu reported the matter to the prefect, he received high praise from the prefect. New Years later, as the second batch of spotted cattle were leased out, the scale of the cattle farm expanded, the production scale of the milk processing workshop expanded rapidly, and Weihaojia's candies became very popular among wealthy families.
This cattle farm and processing workshop has become the highlight of Wanshou County, and therefore has been noticed by some people. The first to be noticed is the prefect of Yuzhou Prefecture and the forces behind him, and the other is the Qiu family forces behind Lihua Lane.
They all wanted to place their own people in Wanshou County. Originally a remote lower county, it actually caused a fight between the two forces. The clues were discovered by a third-party force with sharp ears and eyes. It was not until early June that the county magistrate of Wanshou County was officially appointed.
As the saying goes, while the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman gains. The forces behind the prefect of Yuzhou and the Qiu family of Shengjing failed to get what they wanted.
The new magistrate of Wanshou County is a member of the Qingliu faction in the court. They learned that Mr. Cai had settled in Wanshou County last year, and that Mr. Cai's new disciple seemed to have a close relationship with this cattle farm and milk processing workshop.
When Mr. Cai was in the court, he was usually considered a centrist. Moreover, his students and old friends were spread throughout the court and the country, and he occupied an important position in the minds of Confucian scholars all over the world. Therefore, he was the target of key efforts to win over various factions in the court, and many times he also acted as a lubricant in the struggles between various factions in the court.
Before the new county magistrate of Wanshou County took office, he was entrusted with an important task, requiring him to build relationships with Mr. Cai and his two disciples who had not yet entered officialdom.
Although Mr. Cai has retired now, leaving aside his students and old friends throughout the court and the country, his five disciples who have already entered officialdom are not easy to deal with. Although they are generally in the fifth or sixth grade now, they all hold important positions.
Among them, Wang Xinkuan, the fourth disciple of Mr. Cai, was the most outstanding. Wang Xinkuan passed the imperial examination and became a second-class Jinshi at the age of 22. He was selected into the Hanlin Academy as a seventh-rank editor. Later, he was appreciated by His Majesty and became one of the main drafters of confidential imperial edicts.
Later, he worked as a sixth-rank attendant for a period of time, until he was appointed as the Chief Censor of the Ministry of Personnel. Wang Xinkuan's position as the Chief Censor of the Ministry of Personnel broke a convention. Usually, the Chief Censor was a seventh-rank official, but when Your Majesty appointed Wang Xinkuan as the Chief Censor of the Ministry of Personnel, he retained his sixth-rank rank.
This was quite eye-catching at the time. On the surface, the transfer of Jiujiulang to Dushizhong was a demotion, but everyone with a discerning eye knew how powerful the Dushizhong of the Ministry of Personnel was. Moreover, His Majesty made an exception and retained Wang Xinkuan's rank of sixth rank. Although Wang Xinkuan is now only a Dushizhong of the sixth rank, he is a close minister of His Majesty with low rank and great power.
At the end of April, Weihaojia launched milk-flavored biscuits and milk-flavored pastries, which immediately attracted everyone's attention.
Before the Dragon Boat Festival, the branch of Yunfenglou in Yizhoufu opened and business was extremely booming. With the opening of Yunfenglou in Yizhoufu, a delicacy called pickled peppers appeared in the public eye for the first time.
This delicacy is sour and spicy, and combined with green and red peppercorns, it makes the dignitaries of Yizhou Prefecture unable to stop eating it. The spicy and sour taste makes people's appetites grow and they call it satisfying.
Master Ye Changyan and his disciples took advantage of the opening of the Yunfeng Building branch in Yizhou Prefecture to study in Yizhou Prefecture and its surrounding areas for more than a month.
When I returned to Wanshou County, the new county magistrate, Chu Yunmao, had just taken office.
Upon learning that Teacher Cai’s disciples had returned from their studies abroad, Chu Yunmao went to visit them in person.
Mr. Cai had long known that there was fierce competition for the new county magistrate of Wanshou County. When he got the confirmed news that Chu Yunmao would be the new county magistrate of Wanshou County, he was still a little surprised.
Speaking of Chu Yunmao, there is some connection between him and Mr. Cai. At that time, Mr. Cai and his wife Xiao went to Zhangzhou to serve as prefects. Chu Yunmao's father, Chu Suian, was the Tongpan of Zhangzhou Prefecture.
Chu Suian had three sons, and Chu Yunmao was the youngest son. However, after these three brothers passed the imperial examination, they failed in repeated attempts.
The brothers could only wait for official positions based on their status as juren. Of Chu Yunmao's two elder brothers, one entered the Honglu Temple and is currently a chief clerk of the eighth rank, while the other went to Zhangzhou, worked hard for many years, and finally became a prosecutor of the seventh rank.
Now it seems that Chu Yunmao is the luckiest among the brothers. At the age of early thirties, he has become the official of Wanshou County. His father Chu Suian must have done a lot of work for him.
"Uncle, I should have come to visit you a long time ago, but I heard that you took your two brothers out to study, so I came to visit you today. I hope you won't blame me."
Chu Yunmao greeted Mr. Cai politely, showing the humility of a nephew.
"My dear nephew, you are too polite. I hope your parents are doing well these days. I haven't seen your father for many years."
"After my father retired, he returned to his hometown with my mother to live out his old age. When my father learned that you were living out your old age in Yuzhou Prefecture, he asked me to bring some local specialties from my hometown to you, uncle."
As he spoke, Chu Yunmao cast a look at his follower, and the follower placed the gift box he brought on a small table beside him.
"My eldest brother has also gone to Zhangzhou to take up a post. He remembered that my uncle liked the abalone from Zhangzhou, so he asked me to bring some dried abalone from Dongshan, Zhangzhou to my uncle. My second brother is now in the Honglu Temple, and he knows quite a few foreigners. Before I left, my second brother also asked me to bring two boxes of red ginseng from Donghu to my uncle."
When Mr. Cai saw the pile of gift boxes on the small table, he thanked him repeatedly.
"My dear nephew, thank your father and your two brothers on my behalf."
Chu Yunmao nodded repeatedly and listened to Mr. Cai greeting him politely.
"I passed by Yuzhou Prefecture last year and saw the beautiful scenery here, so I temporarily settled in Wanshou County. Now that my nephew is serving as the head of the Wanshou County, it will enrich the people here."
"My nephew has just arrived, and I hope you can give me some guidance."
After some greetings, Mr. Cai said that his young disciple's family was in mourning and he was worried that he might not be able to entertain him well, so he suggested going to Yunfeng Tower to welcome Chu Yunmao.