Chapter Sixteen: The Majesty of Officialdom

  The cart driver said in a low voice: "Sir, I'd like to remind you that the shops on East Street are Chen Hu's territory. If the shop deal isn't done through Chen Hu, then you've been cheated. If you buy the shop, Chen Hu's people will cause trouble and you won't be able to do business. I advise you not to pay the deposit, it's not worth buying a shop on East Street."

  Lu Tianhua was stunned, and the carriage driver said again: "The shops on East Street are very cheap to buy, that's a trap. The cheapest shops on East Street are worth over 1,000 taels, if you don't make good relations with Chen Hu Da Ye, buying a shop will only lose money. People in the know won't be deceived by the cheap price."

  Lu Qi heard clearly, saw his brother staring blankly again, and couldn't help but furrowed his brow. He thought for a moment, reached into his pocket, and threw the county lieutenant's token to his brother. Lu Tianhua was startled and grabbed the sudden object, lowered his head, raised his hand, and looked at it. In his hand was a palm-sized purple copper plate, with a ferocious beast face on the front and four cast characters "Shi Duan Wei" on the back.

  Lu Tianhua was a bookworm and had also enlisted as a soldier. As soon as he saw the copper plate, he immediately recognized that this was the exclusive military commander's waist order of the county lieutenant. This waist order was equivalent to an official seal or military order, symbolizing the power of the county lieutenant. He looked up at Lu Qi with surprise and suspicion.

  Lu Qi squeezed his eyes and smiled, saying in a gentle voice: "Brother, this is the new job I've been seeking today. It's not about managing the city's affairs, but rather a specialized official responsible for escorting grain taxes, known as the Protector of the Military County. Although it doesn't involve managing the city's affairs, being an official still carries some authority. I don't believe that Chen Hu would dare to oppose me; if he dares to cause trouble, I'll accuse him of colluding with bandits and have him taken care of outside the city. You can rest assured and open your shop, brother."

  Lu Tianhua nodded in relief, he was really convinced by this brother. The position of county lieutenant was small compared to the officials in the capital, but in local areas, it was powerful and prestigious, specializing in maintaining law and order and arresting criminals. In short, it was a master that evil forces had to worship. Local evil forces feared the county lieutenant the most, offending him was equivalent to pulling a tiger's tail, and he could bite you half to death with one mouthful.

  Lu Qi carefully put away the county lieutenant's waist token handed back by his elder brother. He is now very particular about this job as a protector of the county lieutenant, not for the sake of the hundred or so taels of salary, but in order to have official power. In today's world, it is difficult to do business normally without any power or influence. He must rely on the protection of official power to make money, and when he has accumulated a large amount of silver as initial capital, whether or not he holds this position will no longer have much impact.

  The horse carriage, although not fast, arrived at the political and economic center of Wangjiang Slope Township before noon, a fortress that was about one-quarter the size of the county town. It was a chaotic era, and the powerful families at the township level all had their own armed forces. The walls of this Wangjiang Fortress were six meters high, with a moat and a drawbridge, making it seem like a small city. At the gate, there were more than a dozen soldiers holding weapons to inspect people entering and exiting, guarding very strictly.

  The horse carriage stopped at the gate of the fortress, and after the soldiers checked it, they waved their hands to let them pass. However, Lu Qi was stopped by a soldier who pointed at the dagger in his hand and said politely: "Your dagger cannot be brought inside, please leave it at the gate and we will keep it for you. You can come back for it when you leave."

  Lu Qi smiled calmly and reached into his sleeve to take out the county magistrate's waist token, saying: "Do you recognize this?"

  The brave soldier's leader took a glance and his face changed color, surprised and asked: "Is this the county lieutenant's token? Are you Lord County Lieutenant?"

  Lu Qi smiled faintly: "This official is the new protector of Shitou County, specializing in escorting grain taxes. This time I came not on official business, but to visit relatives, so I didn't wear my official uniform."

  The brave soldier nodded and bowed deeply, saying: "I have been rude, sir. Please come in."

  Lu Qi entered the fortress gate, and the leader of the soldiers immediately called over a subordinate to instruct him to report urgently to his superior, and also sent someone to follow Lu Qi, because Lu Qi was too young and unfamiliar, the leader of the soldiers feared that he might be an imposter infiltrating the fortress as a spy.

  The construction inside Wangjiangbao is not bad, and it also has a cross-shaped main street structure like a county town. Most of the residents inside the fortress are landlords and merchants, while the truly poor peasants are scattered in various villages and cannot live inside the fortress. The current scale of Wangjiangbao was formed due to the chaos of the times, with large and small landlords from all over the countryside gathering here, with hired managers patrolling and guarding the land, and when it's time to collect grain, there will be officials, soldiers, and braves who come to 'voluntarily' drive away bandits and guard.

  The horse and carriage arrived at Zhou Yue's parents' home, a dilapidated old mansion that occupied an area of about one mu. As soon as they heard that their daughter's mother-in-law and younger brother-in-law had arrived, the entire Zhou family came out to greet them. Lu Qi had met Zhou's father when his older brother got married, but after several years, he found that Zhou's father, who was only in his early fifties, looked much older, with white hair and a beard like a seventy-year-old man. However, his eyes were very spirited, and his round face was filled with joy.

  Lu Qi respectfully stepped forward to pay his respects, and Zhou Fu looked at Lu Qi with a gaze of great appreciation. After exchanging formal greetings, they entered the old mansion. In the main hall, they exchanged polite remarks for a while before finally taking their seats: Zhou Fu and his wife sat in the host's position, Lu Mu sat on the right side as the guest of honor, Zhou Yue'er stood behind Lu Mu to her right, below Lu Mu was Lu Tianhua, Lu Qi sat on the left side as the first seat, and Ning'er stood behind him to his left.

  The etiquette for receiving guests in an official's family is very strict. The normal seating arrangement is the male host on the left and the female guest on the right, with seniors seated and juniors standing, and the honored on the right and the humble on the left. Zhou Yue'er stands behind Madame Lu on the right side, indicating her noble status as a legitimate daughter-in-law. Ning'er stands behind Lu Qi's back on the left side, indicating that she is Lu Qi's concubine or servant girl.

  Mrs. Zhou, as the hostess, proactively chatted with Mrs. Lu about some family matters and after that, Mrs. Lu explained her intention, asking for help to buy a piece of land from their relatives. Mr. Zhou listened silently and shook his head.

  Lu's mother saw the guest and said politely: "Mr. Zhou, don't you think it's a bad idea to buy an estate on Wangjiang Slope?"

  "Madam Lu, in these troubled times, bandits are rampant and the harvest is meager. Nine-tenths of the annual yield is lost to banditry and heavy taxes. The imperial court's policies on land ownership are also unpredictable, sometimes wanting to confiscate land for public use and implement equal distribution, other times imposing heavy taxes per mu. My family's hundred mu of ancestral land has barely been preserved thanks to our clan's influence. Madam, buying land now is not a wise decision."

  Lu's mother listened and said anxiously, "Old Master Zhou, Xiaogui has brought back some silver this time. It's very difficult to do business in the city now, and the Lu family doesn't want to take the path of doing business again. That's why we're thinking of buying some land to pass the days. If we don't buy land or do business, the Lu family can't afford to just sit around and waste away our resources. I think Xiaogui has a noble title, so it should be reasonable and lawful for him to buy some noble land."

  "Madam Lu, the system of granting land to officials has already become a national calamity. Not to mention other places, but even in my own family, the Zhou clan, there are no less than thirty officials who have used their privileges to annex land, which is already a national disaster. If the court really wants to strengthen the country and enrich the people, it will eventually confiscate all the land and implement the system of equal distribution of land among soldiers. At that time, even the privileges of officials will not be able to protect their property."

  Lu's mother was worried, she had high expectations for the low-risk income from buying land. After hearing what Lu Qi said, her heart cooled down. Lu Qi looked at his mother and said in a gentle voice: "Mother, although buying land also has big risks, we can buy less. Investing in a hundred mu of good land shouldn't be too much, and the income will be enough for us to live a simple life. If the imperial court's policies change, our losses won't be too great."

  Lu's mother was taken aback, and Zhou's father twirled his mustache and nodded: "Madam Lu, Tianfeng's nephew has proposed a good compromise. The risk of investing in Bai Tian's good land is relatively small."

  Lu's mother thought for a moment, nodded and said: "This is also good, having hundreds of acres of good fields can provide us with grain and vegetables, and solve a large part of our expenses. Please ask Old Master Zhou to help us choose one."

  Zhou Fu nodded, and said seriously: "The world is full of difficulties and dangers, the land price on Wangjiang Slope has also been declining repeatedly. With 300 taels, you can get a hundred acres of good farmland plus a house."

  Lu's mother was surprised and said: "A hundred acres of good land can be bought for only 300 taels."

  Zhou Mu and Sheng Jiedao said: "Now the income from the fields is very low, in years with poor harvests, even if the grain tax is waived, it's still a loss. Farmers are unwilling to own their own land, they'd rather sell it to wealthy households and become tenant farmers renting land to farm, so the price of land has fallen drastically."

  Zhou's father shook his head with a deep frown, this old man seemed very concerned about the fate of the country.

  With the help of informed locals and cash transactions, Lu's family easily acquired three adjacent good fields and bought an old house in Wangjiangbu that was no less than a city house. In comparison, the houses in the county town were more expensive than those in Wangjiangbu by three to four times or even more. Houses in rural areas are really cheap!

  Under the auspices of Uncle Zhou, a contract was signed and the boundaries were defined. By the hour of Yin in the afternoon, everything had been completed, and the Lu family became the master of Wangjiang Slope. Of course, compared to those wealthy families with thousands of acres of land, the Lu family could only be considered as a small landlord who had just entered the ranks.