Chapter Twenty-Five: After Being Promoted

  Chongzhen 2nd year, December.

  Winter sunshine, piercing the morning mist, sprinkles on the light green river water, and under the rippling waves, emits a flashing glow. The morning mist, under the illumination of the sun, becomes thinner and thinner, finally disappearing from view, making Lin Chunhong, standing at the bow of the boat, feel exhilarated.

  It's no wonder that Lin Chunhong was excited, after controlling Baili Zhou Island and successfully exploring the Qingjiang River, he also controlled the Jingjiang waterway, the road to wealth became wider and wider, and the speed of accumulating wealth became faster and faster.

  Moreover, because of "suppressing" Zhang Zhao, under Zhang Daohan's operation, the governor of Jingzhou appointed Lin Chunhong as the county historian of Zhijiang County. The county historian is in charge of one county's capture and prison, which does not enter the flow official position, no need for the Ministry of Rites to issue a document, Lin Chunhong took office today, and the original position of Baili Zhou patrol inspector was taken over by Li Chongde. In this way, following the Baili Zhou patrol inspector, Lin Chunhong finally took a solid step forward in power.

  Looking at the vast and flowing Yangtze River, Lin Chunhong couldn't help but feel a surge of emotions, and he couldn't help but think of Yan Dianshi, who would become famous all over the world more than ten years later. In his heart, Lin Chunhong secretly thought: No matter what, he must not let Yan Dianshi's tragedy happen again.

  Before long, the boat docked at the pier, and Lin Chunhong led Zhou Shiliang, Li Guangzu, and Chu Wenshan to the Yamen of Zhijiang County.

  The county government is full of cracks and dilapidation, it's a mess. Lin Chunhong secretly scolded: An official who doesn't repair the government office, what kind of stupid rules are these? It makes the government office no different from a doghouse.

  Abdominal ridicule returns to abdominal ridicule, and the matter of face still has to go through a round. Lin Chunhong, under the leadership of the yamen runner, first went to pay respects to County Magistrate Bao Zhedong. Bao Zhedong's expression was cold, speaking only polite words, and before finishing a cup of tea, he saw off his guest with a cup of tea.

  Lin Chunhong thought to himself: It seems that by relying on the relationship with Jingzhou Prefect He Zhongyuan, he took the position of Dian Shi, which made this Jinshi dissatisfied.

  Lin Chunhong didn't take it to heart either, what can be done about hating the old man, the old man will still live a happy and carefree life as his own official!

  Immediately, Lin Chunhong went to visit the county magistrate Tan Jie Xi. Tan Jie Xi was in charge of the county's finances and had some knowledge of Lin Chunhong's abilities, so he was relatively polite in his speech, repeatedly emphasizing: "From now on, the finances of Zhijiang will depend entirely on Lord Lin."

  This lifted Lin Chunhong's spirits considerably; it seemed that this chief minister was a wise and intelligent person.

  After saying some pointless words to Tan Jie Xi, Lin Chun Hong arrived at his own office: Western Depot. In the entire Western Depot, Lin Chun Hong was undoubtedly the big boss. Not long after, the head of the capture squad Shi Chao and the head of the prison He Miao led a group of capture officers and prison guards who had been waiting for a long time in the Western Depot to pay their respects to Lord Lin on his first day of office.

  Everyone gives face, Lin Chunhong naturally abides by the principle of "you respect me one foot and I respect you ten feet". Not only did he invite his subordinates to drink wine in a restaurant, but also clearly stated at the banquet: what was done before will still be done in the future, and he will never touch the land of the prison head and the guard.

  Everyone was overjoyed and thought they had met a good official. In their words, Lin Chunhong was almost like a reborn father to them.

  Lin Chunhong naturally looked down on the small benefits of being a prison head or a catcher, what he cared about was using the name of the imperial historian to do extraordinary things. The imperial historian also had an important responsibility, which was to manage the bowmen. In this way, Lin Chunhong's private soldiers who were raised along the Qingjiang River and Baili Island became the bowmen of Zhiji, and later they could use force openly and aboveboard, so as not to be accused of plotting a rebellion.

  Furthermore, Lin Chunhong is currently in urgent need of talent, and he plans to openly recruit talent in Zhijiang County under the banner of recruiting officials for the imperial court.

  Finally, Lin Chunhong found that in the current Ming Dynasty, the power of the government had never reached the countryside, and all rural governance relied entirely on local gentry, also known as landlords. He planned to extend his own power into the countryside, replacing the gentry to govern the countryside, and thoroughly hollowing out the entire Zhijiang County government. To extend his power into the countryside, of course, a name was needed, and this name was to maintain law and order, sending his men to every village.

  As for Bao Zhedong and Tan Jixi, no matter what attitude they have towards themselves, Lin Chunhong doesn't take them seriously at all. What he needs is just a nominal title of a historian, which is also the reason why he spared no effort to spend money to plot and obtain this title.

  Not to mention Lin Chunhong was there, racking his brains to dig the corner of Jiang's official mansion wall. Let's just say that with the New Year approaching, the workers were on holiday and rushing back home for the celebrations, including Er Gangzi.

  Er Gouzi is a down-to-earth person. After getting married, his wife gave birth to a chubby son, making him beam with joy every day. Now his wife is pregnant again, walking around with a big belly, and he's even more proud and arrogant. He heard the old folks in the village say that the shape of her belly definitely means another cowherd boy is on the way.

  Now the second pole is no longer chopping wood in person, and has been promoted to deputy general manager of Duck Mouth Warehouse. The salary is not low. At the end of the year, he also received more than 20 taels of dividends. According to Manager Guo's words, it was Old Master Lin taking care of everyone, letting everyone have a good New Year. If they work harder in the future, Old Master Lin will make more profits and give them even more.

  The two men, Gu Xiulin and his fellow villager, Gu Dasao, a woman, parted ways with the others in Yidu and headed home by land, as they found the water route too slow.

  Gu Xiu Lin was eager to go home and see his little son, and also eager to tell his wife about the extra twenty or so taels of silver he had received. He enjoyed seeing the look of surprise on his wife's face when she heard that they had been given more money, guessing that every man hoped their wife would have such an expression.

  Actually, he wanted to tell his wife: after the Spring Festival, move with parents to Baili Island!

  Gu Xiu Lin was so confident that his family would be happy to go to Baili Zhou because Lin Chun Hong told everyone: all workers who signed a contract with him could bring their families to rent land in Baili Zhou, with no more than 15 mu per person. The rented land only required selling one stone of grain at 60% of the market price to Lin Chun Hong each year, and there were no other taxes or rents. Gu Xiu Lin had inquired that the land in Baili Zhou was relatively fertile, and generally, winter wheat could be planted in the winter, and cotton seedlings could be transplanted into the wheat field in March or April of the following year. After the wheat harvest, the cotton seedlings would have grown up, and after harvesting the cotton in September, winter wheat could be planted again. Moreover, one season's wheat yield was about two stones of grain per mu, and the harvested cotton was nearly 100 catties. Although these were far less than his wages, they had a great attraction for the common people who found it hard to leave their land. Buying one stone of grain at 60% of the market price was almost equivalent to not paying rent at all! Gu Xiu Lin calculated this very clearly, after all, he had been studying arithmetic for a long time.

  Gu Da Sao's hands didn't have as much money as Gu Xiulin, but by the end of the year, she had received more than five taels of silver in dividends. Just these few extra taels of silver made Gu Da Sao extremely happy. Thinking about how her husband and son worked hard all year, planting grain that was then taken away by taxes and rent, leaving them with almost nothing, she felt quite content.

  Now she has a high status at home, and her husband, who used to beat her frequently, is now very polite to her. It's really like they are treating each other with respect. Also, the village women often come to ask her if she still needs help with cooking, and every time she proudly says: "It's not that easy to find someone!" The people I hire are all excellent cooks. This makes those people envious, and they can't help but gossip behind her back.

  Before, Gu Dajie would cry and feel wronged whenever she heard these rumors. Now, even her husband and son comfort her, making her stand up straight. Last time, when Village Chief Gu asked her husband to call her back, he was scolded instead, which made Village Chief Gu so angry that he lay in bed for three days, making her feel even more relieved.

  "Second pole, you said that Lin boss is so young and yet so generous? Even I can rent 15 mu of land in Baili Zhou, this is a good thing that has fallen from the sky." Gu Dajie said to Gu Xiulin as they walked.

  "No, I'm preparing to let my wife and parents move to Baili Island. I've had enough of being bullied by Old Man Gu! The land rent is actually 50%!" Gu Xiulin was very dissatisfied with Old Man Gu, the clan leader.

  "Hmm, I've also let the family and son go, and from now on, I won't come back to this place either. Those people in Gu's village, apart from being gossipy, haven't done anything good. In the first half of the year, you even helped me teach Qin San a lesson, that kid has been eyeing our family all along, I'm really afraid he'll take revenge!" Gu Dajie is both hateful and fearful of the rascal Qin San.

  "For someone like him, he should be dealt with in this way. Next time I see him, I'll beat him up again!" Lin Boss said, "Now there are two major troubles in the village, one is the head of the Li family or the clan leader, and the other is a hoodlum. This really hits my heart." Gu Xiulin clenched his fist and said that after gaining more experience outside, he was no longer the timid person he used to be. Plus, he had learned some combat skills from Zhou Wang back then, so ordinary hoodlums were not his match.

  "Heh heh, do you know that Old Master Lin is planning to set up a private school in Baili Zhou? He said as long as you pay two dan of grain per year, you can send one child to study." asked Mrs. Gu.

  "Is that so? I heard from Big Cat Ear that girls can attend private school for free!" Gu Xiulin said mysteriously.

  "What? How can Old Master Lin do this? What's the use of a girl reading books? Can she take the imperial examination?" asked Mrs. Gu in surprise.

  Gu Xiu Lin smiled and said, "Do you know that when Boss Lin was young, his family was also poor. It was his mother who taught him to recognize characters. Boss Lin said that if a mother is literate, no matter what the situation, her son will definitely be literate!"

  Gu Da Sao thought for a moment and felt that it was reasonable. She chatted with Gu Xiulin along the way, and before long, they arrived at Gujiazhuang.

  After parting with Gu Dajie at the village entrance, Gu Xiulin quickly walked towards home. The closer he got to home, the lighter his footsteps became, as if the heavy package didn't exist. In the package, there were several pairs of exquisite embroidered shoe pads and head ornaments made by the local people, some Xilankapu woven tapestries, some cured meats, ginger candies and other things that he brought back for his family to taste, and a few toys for the little boys to play with. Ah, his own son was almost two years old, just right for playing with these. Thinking of his son, Gu Xiulin couldn't help but reveal a proud smile, thinking that later he would also send him to school, so as not to struggle with even simple arithmetic.

  As he reached the entrance of his home, Gu Xiulin was about to shout loudly when a small head suddenly popped out from the gap between the door and the frame. In a soft and gentle voice, it asked, "Who is it?" Gu Xiulin quickly pulled the child over, lifted him up above his head, and said in a loud voice, "It's your dad! You don't even recognize your own dad?" The child let out a happy laugh.

  As the laughter came out, Gu Xiulin's wife and parents appeared. Seeing Gu Xiulin return, they were overjoyed, especially his mother, who was busy making all sorts of dishes for him to eat. Moreover, having heard that Gu Xiulin had earned more than twenty taels of silver, she kept nagging him about building a new house.

  "Does Big Brother and Sister-in-law know that I'm back today? Why haven't I seen anyone?" Gu Xiulin asked, not having seen her brother and his wife.

  The daughter-in-law and parents fell silent as soon as Gu Xiulin mentioned her brother. Gu Xiulin felt something was wrong, asking: "Has sister come to quarrel again?"

  The daughter-in-law nodded silently, her eyes dim with sorrow. It turned out that when the two brothers divided their family property, a conflict had arisen between the sisters-in-law, each claiming that their parents had helped the other side. Especially the elder sister-in-law, who had refused to let her parents visit her home since the division of property. Gu Xiulin was an honest and kind-hearted person, so he single-handedly supported his parents. Now that Gu Xiulin's life was getting better and better, the elder sister-in-law grew more and more jealous, attributing their good fortune to their parents' help. She would often come over to quarrel with them, but not daring to point her finger at her parents, she instead targeted Gu Xiulin's wife. Gu Xiulin's wife was no pushover either; if it weren't for Gu Xiulin holding her back, who knows what kind of scene they would have made.

  Gu Xiu Lin was originally too lazy to care about these things, now he's often away from home, his perspective is not comparable to before, and even less wants to escalate the conflict. But seeing his wife suffering every day now, it doesn't feel right in his heart.

  "Dad, originally it was five mu of land, my brother and I each had half a share. The cattle were raised alternately by the two families. I'm willing to give up my share to my brother, and the cattle will belong to them too, I don't want them anymore." Gu Xiulin said after a long silence.

  After finishing speaking, the daughter-in-law kept winking her eyes. Seeing that Gu Xiulin didn't respond, she pretended to have something to do and passed by here, secretly kicking him in the foot. Gu Xiulin also ignored his wife and waited for his father's words.

  His father took a deep drag on his pipe, exhaled thick smoke and sighed: "At first, I didn't favor anyone, they're all my sons, how can I favor one over the other? Although you've made some money outside these past few years, people need to have roots. If we lose this land, you'll be rootless. Your eldest brother should also be more restrained, he's becoming more and more unreasonable!"

  "There's nothing worth staying for in this place, our Master Tian Shi said that we can rent 15 mu of land on Baili Island to farm, and there are no miscellaneous chores. Every year, we just need to sell six-tenths of the annual yield per mu to Master Tian Shi at market price, which is enough."

  "Is this really a good thing?" Father's eyes were filled with disbelief. "If it is, wouldn't everyone be rushing to plant them? How could you possibly get the chance?"

  Gu Xiulin smiled and proudly said: "Dian Shizong only allows his own people to rent and cultivate, and doesn't recruit outsiders. Even Gu Dajie can rent 15 mu."

  "Oh, it seems there's nothing worth staying for here. If you want to give the land to your older brother, your father won't interfere with you, so discuss it among yourselves. However, it's always best to cultivate one's own land in peace. I think it's best if you let your older brother farm the land without collecting any rent, but keep the deed yourself. As for the cow, do whatever you want, I'm old and can't manage anything anymore."

  Gu Xiulin's wife nodded desperately, Gu Xiulin smiled at her and nodded, then said to his father: "According to your method, it's good, I'll call my elder brother over now and see what he thinks." After finishing speaking, he was about to go out, but just as he reached the door, he bumped into Gu Xiuxing. Gu Xiulin hastily smiled and said: "It turns out that Mr. Xiuxing has arrived, please come in and sit down." Gu Xiuxing wasn't actually a scholar, but had read books in his early years, could recognize characters, and was called Mr. Xiuxing by the villagers.